To ALL stolen bikes

It would be a lot easier to run a gps logger tracked from your computer with an overlay on google maps. Run that with a fisheye button camera mounted in the brake housing and you'll be fully equipped to track them down.

Optional extras include provision of incriminating evidence to the police or retribution with a high-powered rifle from a long distance.

That sounds cool, and very 007, and would be a fun project to do. But just to play devil's advocate, for the sake of discussion, here are some drawbacks:

1) Cost to buy and maintain external hardware (GPS logger and fish-eye camera).
2) Dependency on external hardware means possibility of failure, especially in weather conditions like we have here in sunny ol' England.
3) GPS has an error of about 10 m. In densely populated residential areas, such as an apartment block, that'd be a problem.
4) Prevention is better than cure... I'd rather not get to the stage where police have to be involved at all.

I'm thinking way too much about this... just goes to show you how bored I am at work.