Bike theives Crawthew

[jim_the_chin]

Twitter video only

https://twitter.com/ashleighcarrol/status/1628489404007256064?s=48&t=jRwGgAnub7vKTmmWtVp1rg

[SpringTime]

Scum. Well done for filming, whoever filmed it. Brazen little turds.

[NewWave]

Its reported in the Evening standard.

The police really need to get get a grip on local crime this was in broad daylight during rush hour.

[Jellybeanz]

Our car had its catalytic converter stolen at 8.30pm on a Saturday night from outside our house. Our young kids watched the whole thing. 4 Masked men, one with a metal bar. Used an angle grinder or similar. Like a movie. Horrifying. 999 didn't answer for 6 minutes. Neighbour had same experience trying to get through. The police rang me the next morning. No further action as no CCTV (which is why this area is now a big target apparently compared to some others).

Our neighbour had their door kicked in on Wednesday. Same day as this bike theft.

We are in a quiet road, terraced so rare to have burglaries. So brazen and upsetting.

Police numbers being halved by Conservative governments since 2010 has led to this, along with cost of living crisis meaning everyone is poorer and sadly criminals seem to think everyone in ED is wealthy which is far from reality.

[Nigello]

https://fullfact.org/crime/police-numbers/

[CPR Dave]

It is the Mayor of London who is in charge of policing in London.

He's not a Tory.

But he has just put up your council tax by a whopping amount.

[Jules-and-Boo]

CPR Dave

The government (Tory) has cut funding.

This has resulted in the reduced number of police.

It's really not at all possible to pretend that the Tory Government have not been responsible

[mrwb]

Both main parties have closed police stations over the last 25 years: A police station has closed every week since Labour came to power in 1997, Government figures reveal. 1 MAR 2021 Why half of the UK’s police stations have closed in past decade.. Our police station is now a school, though it also seems there are too many schools now and not enough pupils for them!

It's a similar story to what's happened to the local sorting office. The country has been run in to the ground by politicians who only think about the short term.

I'm not seeing any party who are prepared to admit the problems and rebuild all essential infrastructure that has gone. Though as things get worse economically, crime is going to follow and ultimately things probably get bad enough so something is done about it.

[exdulwicher]

There was an LBC report on police station closures a couple of months ago.

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/police-stations-closing-one-per-week-lbc-reveals/

Thing with bike theft though is it invariably takes a few seconds. Battery angle grinder and hydraulic bolt cutters, both of which fit into a rucksack, will get through pretty much anything. You can get bike hangers with reinforced steel rods welded all through the sides - not sure if that's an off-the-peg thing or something retrofitted but if councils are serious about providing for bikes, secure parking needs to be high up the list - not just the cheapest shed possible.

Cargo bikes are ripe for that sort of theft too - if you don't have a garage, you need some sort of hanger or shed for them cos most are far too big to store in a house.

Well done to the person filming it.

[sandyman]

I'm completely confused by the policy on policing whether it's the government or the Mayor. I would have thought that increasing police numbers is always going to be a vote-winning popular policy with anyone except criminals whatever the cost. So why have numbers been cut?

[malumbu]

A bit of a confusing thread

(a) that we should be all going round with body cameras on to film wrongdoings

(b) That we should resort to the language of the gutter with regards to criminality

© that the streets are dangerous and nothing is being done

(d) that the police are helpless don't have the resources

(f) that somebody had their bike nicked.

I can relate to (f) but firstly an interesting article on policing if a little dated - https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/london-assembly-publications/police-funding-whos-paying-bill

70% funding of Met is by central government, and budgets are tight (spoiler alert it is a GLA document)

As regards to (f) irrespective that the crims are winning the nuclear war, ie their weapons are better than are defences there should be more done

Proper secure street parking, ie card/phone controlled locking facilities in our streets for short term parking

Monitored bike parking - surveillance and possibly manned as for example in Netherlands

More from the manufacturers - chips/tracking devices would be nice

Get your bike security marked

Tighter controls from Gumtree - resale far too easy (unlike the sister site ebay)

Just don't buy second hand bikes if the price is too good to be true

Re-establishment of the TfL/Met bike theft team

I find it a very personal crime having three bikes nicked in London whilst going out.

[CPR Dave]

Just not true Jules.

The Mayor of London was given a direct mandate for policing in London in 2011, as part of the Police and Social Responsibility Act. As such, the Mayor is responsible for setting the strategic direction of policing in London through the Police and Crime Plan.

If there are any problems with policing in London then they rest entirely at the Mayor's doorstep.

It's one of the only things he does actually have responsibility for (the other being TfL - another gopping failure).