Stolen bikes

Let me repost this blog entry I wrote after my bike was nicked six weeks ago, since it fits in with this discussion:

**Face to face with the Brick Lane bike thieves **

My bike was the closest thing I had to a girlfriend. So after someone stole it earlier this week, I took advice I'd often given and went to look for it on Brick Lane, where it's common knowledge that stolen bikes are sold.

I got there at 7.30am and saw a dozen police officers march with unswerving purpose into the beigel shop. When asked, one said "If your bike turns up it won't be at a stall; it'll be someone standing with it in the street." But, he said, the thieves might be put off by today's strong police presence. "Oh, are you going to arrest them all?"
"No, we're here to police a demonstration against shops selling fur."

It wasn't until 9.30am that the thieves appeared. On Cygnet Street I saw a man in a grey tracksuit smoking a spliff and standing by a Chris Boardman mountain bike. As I walked past I heard him say he'd sold a similar bike for £240 the other week. I sat nearby and watched over my newspaper and soon there were six to ten young guys with him. Tall skinny kids with baseball caps, polo shirts, trainers, and stolen bikes. I didn't speak to them at any point. Every bike this gang steals causes someone inconvenience and misery. They might not have stolen mine, but I still hated them. They scattered when two policemen walked past.

I caught up with one of the officers. So did another man from the crowd who said he was here looking for his wife's stolen Specialized racer. The officer replied that he knew the gang were selling stolen bikes; and that dealt drugs, too, though not at the same time. But the police have to prove that the bikes are stolen, which is difficult unless the bike's owner is with them and can quote the frame number. The bikes are often taken overnight, before the owner has even noticed. And when the police walk by, the gang are just hanging out, not trying to sell anything.

I asked if I could let him know when the bike thieves returned. I thought he might give me his mobile number. But he told me to find another officer or go to Brick Lane station, which is closed on Sunday.

Taking a break to gorge on beigels, I saw a Chinese lady DVD seller being led away in handcuffs for crimes against intellectual property. By the time I got back to Cygnet Street, the non-abstract thieves had returned with more bikes. There was a burgundy Langster, a Specialized Rockhopper, and one of those black single-speed bikes with red rims you so often see around town.

Infuriated, I walked through the Brick Lane crowds to find a policeman. None were about, so I cycled to Liverpool Street police station. I told the desk sergeant "There's a gang selling stolen bikes on Cygnet Street. Can you send in a squad with Tasers and pepper spray? They'll need to go in from both sides."
"Well, how do you know the bikes are stolen?"
She wrote down the information I gave, suggested I tried Bethnal Green station, and asked if I wanted to leave my name and number. Somebody would call me in the week. I declined.

I went back and watched for another hour. A Polish guy was trying out a mountain bike, for which the seller wanted £80. "Where did you find this?" he asked jokingly. His friends waited next to me and I had to stop myself from lecturing them. They hardly looked like they ate out of bins or had no choice. For the quoted price they could have brought a bike from one of the legitimate traders. And yet from a greedy sense that they were entitled to something better than they could afford, they were choosing to buy an obviously stolen bike.

I asked for a quiet word with a nearby stallholder. To my surprise he was happy to talk about "those herberts". For six, seven years he'd had run-ins with the council and the police trying to get them to act. "They're not junkies though, are they? They're estate kids" I said. "They're lowlifes, that's what they are" he replied.

The thieves are mostly teenagers. My housemate later said that even if it were easier to arrest and charge them, it wouldn't be good for society. With criminal records, their employment options would be restricted and they'd be more likely to become career criminals. But it seems to me that they've already made that choice.
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