[Bicycle Theft, 1970s]

okay ready this is Officer Brad gothan of the conquered California police force a specialist in bicycle theft and chairman of the northern California bicycle Officers Association okay officer Gallison the uh bike theft problem has grown tremendous proportion so that there are people in it who are Specialists like yourself can you tell me a little bit about the size of the take well to show you the uh the rapid growth of the problem in 1970 we had in California about 92,000 bicycles stolen uh worth about $5.5 million yeah in uh 1971 the problem grew to such an extent that we had 500,000 bicycles stolen and uh this represented a value of about $30 million it% well it's no longer a juvenile problem is it no uh it's grown from that it's it's now more of a uh a regular crime just like auto theft or burglary or anything else a lot of people who are heavily involved in crime are turning to Bicycle theft because of the uh availability of bicycles the fact that they can't be secured well and uh because they're high [Music] value I understand it's no longer a juvenile problem no it's gone beyond that now it's a it's a widespread problem it's a the same type of crime to the criminal anymore as burglary or auto theft or any one of a number of crimes uh I think this is due to quite a few different factors one being the fact that the 10 speed has become very popular that's valuable bicycle isn't it yes it is I think that the uh the average value of the 10 speed now is somewhere around $90 and many of them are up around three and 400 and these people you're beginning to see more and more Professionals in the business that's right uh we're seeing people going around in rings stealing bicycle as opposed to uh situation okay I'm going to ask if they steal the order well this valuable merchandise is uh fairly easily stolen I understand yes it is uh most of the time because the people who own the merchandise don't take the proper steps to take care of it what do they what do they do that's wrong well they they go out and they spend $100 for a bicycle and then they'll buy a $129 lock to lock it up with and expect that to secure the bicycle Against The Bicycle Thief it just doesn't work The Bicycle Thief cuts the chain with a bolt cut or something like that right that's the usual tool used by the The Bicycle Thief and most cheap locks and cheap chains can be easily cut with a bol cutter with no problem at all and I understand that combination locks are fairly easily open by almost anybody combination locks have become a game with kids nowadays and I most uh most kids by the time they're in seventh or eighth grade can open just about any combination lock around I see okay well cheap locks and chains won't do it and uh I guess there's some other mistakes a lot of us making trying to take care of our bicycles yes a lot of people uh when they lock their bike up will'll lock at someplace where it can't be seen by other people and that's a mistake they try to hide it down an alley or something well it's a good idea and chances are you might hide it from a bicycle thief or two but you're also going to hide it from the view of everyone else and if a thief does find it he's got forever and a day to work on it so maybe there's safety in in numbers or a crowd right also uh a lot of people will park their bicycle uh in the dark somewhere or uh anywhere where it's easy for a thief to work on without being noticed is a mistake uh even in a garage with an open front garage door not safe in a garage either no not unless your garage is is closed and locked uh is locking a bike with a good chain let's say through the uh wheel a good idea no not just through one wheel uh to be locked properly a bicycle should be locked with a chain through both wheels and through the frame and around some solid object like a carport post or a porch Pole or a telephone pole and with a good chain and a good lock right okay where do you consider the safest place to leave a bike if you're out on the street and you have to leave it temporarily well I would say the safest place would naturally be where there's the most people around the entrance to a shopping mall uh right in front of a busy department store but locked to something solid as I said a telephone poll or something like that uh if it's at night not only uh where there's a lot of people around but you should leave it under a light somewhere a bright light where it can be easily seen pretty much the same way you'd handle a good car right kill itting a okay Brad a while ago we were talking about uh safety of uh placing your bike properly and protecting it lighting it up and we forgot to mention too much about garages would you tell us again about how to keep your bike from being stolen well first of all uh it's important to keep your bicycle when it's locked someplace to keep it in as full of public view as you can unless it's in the interior of your home in your bedroom or something like that uh you want to put it where there's a a great many people walking in the area uh if it's at night you want to keep it in a light someplace like under a street light or under the front of a store where there's Bright Lights uh a lot of people make the mistake of putting the bicycle uh in their garage at night and this is a mistake uh especially if you leave your front garage door open because what better place for a bike Thief to work than in a darkened garage where he can see everybody going by but nobody going by can see him he's got all the time in the world okay thanks um ready ready Brad I understand a lot of people think their bikes are safe in garages and you know on their property in the front yards is that true no I would say for the most part it's not true the only place your bicycles really safe is in your house or in a locked garage um just leaving it in the garage I think that uh we'd find uh from a survey that probably 30 to 40% of our thefts occur from front yards and from from uh open garages an open garage especially at night is a beautiful place for a thief to work without fear of apprehension in most cases okay cut speak I understand that uh the California officers are advocating some uh measures to help solve this problem what are they well we're asking that the state set up a Statewide registration file in a Statewide uh computerized stolen file or hot file uh with all the pertinent information included in it and this would be would be based on U the manufacturer serial numbers on the bikes however until that time and until such a system set up we're asking that people uh go to their local police departments or local sheriff's offices and have their bicycles registered and licensed and most departments here in California are stamping a number in this portion of the bicycle uh which indicates the city in which it was stamped and the serial number that we give the bicycle and are applying a license tag in this area just underneath the seat to indicate that it's been licensed then a full description of the bicycle on file okay now we go to the we've been talking about a lot of ways to prevent bicycle theft but all in all I think that the best is a safe secure locking device for the bicycle an example example of a safe secure locking device as a lock such as this which is case harden we've been talking about a lot of ways to prevent bicycle theft but all in all the best method to prevent B bicycle theft in the first place before it occurs and to safeguard your bicycle is to find a secure locking device that'll protect your bicycle against the ordinary Thief an example of one of these devices is a lock such as I'm holding here which is a case harden lock both the shackle and the body of the lock are case harden and it's operated by a key and not a combination there are a variety of such locks to lock the bicycle securely and to lock it properly you have to pass the chain through both Wheels the front and the back wheel and through the frame and lock it to Some solid object such as a carport Pole or a porch post or even a telephone pole something that can be moved and the bicycle can't be taken away from B in summary uh I think the the best thing that you can do is number one to get your bicycle registered and licensed that way you run a lot less chance having it stolen and you've got a description on file with the police number two buy the strongest case hardened key lock and the strongest case hardened chain that you can find and number three learn to lock your bike properly and do it in such a place that the thief doesn't have a good chance to work on your bicycle wa a second put the okay in summary in Su in summary the best way to protect your bicycle is to do three things first of all get your bicycle licensed and registered that way it's got a lot less chance of being stolen and there's a description of your bicycle on file with the police number two obtain the best strongest case harden key lock and case harden chain that you can find and number three learn how to lock your bike properly and uh use a little common sense in where you put your bike and don't let the thief have a chance to work on your bicycle