Records are Made to be Broken (The Bike Theft Edition)

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Permalink Reply by Michael A on August 3, 2013 at 3:20pm

I wonder if there is a rise in bike thefts, or just a rise in reported bike thefts? 

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Permalink Reply by Jared on August 3, 2013 at 4:11pm

Any way to tell the number of reported thefts via official police reports?

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on August 3, 2013 at 4:18pm

Nope. Consistent with the FBI's Uniform Crime Statistics record keeping methodology, bike theft is not separated out of the larger "theft" category by the Chicago Police Department. And bike theft statistics are estimated to be under-reported by 65-75%.

Jared said:

Any way to tell the number of reported thefts via official police reports?

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on August 3, 2013 at 4:19pm

Probably both.

Michael A said:

I wonder if there is a rise in bike thefts, or just a rise in reported bike thefts? 

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on August 4, 2013 at 3:25am

I could be way off (most likely on the low side), but my own guess is that whatever's reported to CSBR should be multplied by 15 for a rough number of bike thefts citywide.

Kevin C said:

Nope. Consistent with the FBI's Uniform Crime Statistics record keeping methodology, bike theft is not separated out of the larger "theft" category by the Chicago Police Department. And bike theft statistics are estimated to be under-reported by 65-75%.

Jared said:

Any way to tell the number of reported thefts via official police reports?

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Permalink Reply by Vitaliy on August 4, 2013 at 11:55am

Good statistics though; something needs to be changed.

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Permalink Reply by Eli on August 5, 2013 at 9:02am

Causes of theft have remained remarkably consistent; i.e. No Lock - 20-25% of reports and some form of cable lock as primary lock - 35%.

It's interesting to me that the cable lock numbers aren't higher. It seems like a majority of bikes I see are locked with cable locks. Maybe cable lock users are under-represented because people who are aware of the CSBR are more likely to be aware of the relative insecurity of cable locks. Are the other 40% of reported stolen bikes mainly locked with u-locks? Chains?

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on August 5, 2013 at 10:33am

The Chicago Stolen Bike Registry template for filing a theft report contains the following lock options in a pull-down menu: Cable w/padlock; Combination Cable Lock; Cable w/Integrated Key Lock; Newer U-Lock w/Flat Key; Older U-Lock w/Round Key; Other U-Lock; Heavy Duty Bicycle Security Chain; No Lock; and Other. These categories have existed since approximately 2006 when Howard began the CSBR, and over time, options like older U-Lock w/Round Key have become increasingly rare selections as I don't believe anyone still makes a U-Lock that can be opened with a Bic pen. The Other category has been a topic of discussion in past threads because this is sometimes an option selected by the victim and sometimes an option selected by the CSBR admins. Victims are asked to select "other" when no lock was cut or broken to steal the bike, and admittedly, this fact is sometimes difficult to ascertain with any degree of certainty. The admin protocol is to make the change when the narrative makes it clear that a lock wasn't defeated to steal the bike. "Other" includes by way of example, bikes which were only locked to themselves (regardless of lock type); bikes which are locked only through the front wheel (regardless of lock type) and the bike is stolen by leaving the wheel locked to the rack and taking the rest; bikes which were locked (regardless of lock type) to a sucker pole, wooden or iron fence, and the object which it was locked to was obviously broken or defeated. Best practices for preventing bike theft are a proper lock or locks together with locking the bike properly (method and site).

For July of 2013, to round out the CSBR stats:

Newer U-Lock w/flat key - 20 (10%)

Other - 53 (26%)

Older U-Lock w/Round Key - 3

Heavy Duty Bicycle Security Chain - 1

Other U-Lock - 3

Statistics for 2011 & 2012:

No Lock 20.02% and 19.95%, respectively;

Cable 35.27% and 33.76%, respectively;

Newer U-lock w/Flat Key 14.73% and 15.65%, respectively;

Security Chain 1.81% and 1.19%, respectively; and 

Other 25.84% and 26.35%, respectively.

Locking your bike with a decent U-Lock or two to a bike rack is still the consistently safest way to lock your bike, statistically speaking.

 

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