So as we know there are more than 35 bikes a day currently being stolen i London, most of them using the “Ped-Push” method.
I was thinking about organising a day where we get a group of us together, we sit down with maps and a assign areas to teams of 2 or 3 ideally with one person with a Camera mounted on themselves and we set up a patrol.
We only watch and follow, we do not engage people, and should we see anything suspicious we report it to the police, we could easily follow anyone who was acting very suspicious and being in a group means its easy to move away if we needed to.
I don’t want any baseball bat wielding idiots, i know this is tempting, but I’m looking to just put more active eyes on the ground on a regular basis at random.
You could hand photos/video to the police with clear face shots and they wont do anything I’ll wager. You’d be better off all jumping out with fog-horns, cymbals blazing and massive “thief” banners and chase them down the road.
Surely you wouldnt be able to just sit there and watch them actually get away with a bike…
Yeah, I’m not sure of the total plan here. You follow them, I assume they would realise this, leave the bike and call their mates to come meet them… What then?
That’s a brilliant idea banman!!! I’d be up for that. But I’m thinking in more of a comedy circus clown sort of way. F*uck me that would be a surprise for them!
once you’ve got a load of volunteers it might be worth getting in touch with the SVU to let them know you plan to help and report crimes as they are happening. i suspect they could give you advice on how best you can help so that people actually get nicked for it?
all ready had a convo with the SVU, its a case of us just reporting what we see, there biggest problem its not getting reports of the bikes as there stolen, or not getting reports of people acting suspicious. Im not saying we can def even make a difference, but more eyes does mean more chance of us picking up something for the police. Think of it like a mobile neighbourhood watch.
Im not even saying we have to be on bikes, we might just go and sit near some of the bigger bays that we know have been targeted. We have seen how brazen they are, they won’t even realise we are there.
Im just saying, rather than wingeing like girls but doing nothing about it, why don’t we try something simple, if it doesn’t work, well at least we tried. The bikes gets stolen weather or not we try and help gather info and who knows maybe we will help catch some thieves or even stop someones pride and joy going missing.
Also as for chasing after them and them calling there mates, that would be stupid, police turn up we would obviously have a lot of evidence and then a whole group get nicked, your and idiot if you follow to close, I’m saying lets use a bit of basic common sense.
So… follow them, but not too close that they would notice? Sorry, post #1 says to follow them? This one above is more about staying put and getting video or photo’s perhaps.
I’m not trying to be an idiot or even put anyone off, I like the idea, but at the same time it could be dangerous if done wrong so I’m just wanting to clarify the plan
I’ve seen a few of these threads go up over the years and not much come of them, wouldn’t it be a better idea to organise a motorcycle watch as a obvious deterrent rather than hiding in bushes with a camera, several organised pairs or groups of 3’s to patrol the bays for a day handing out pre-printed leaflets highlighting the problem of motorcycle thefts in london, we could also get some cheap t-shirts printed up “londonbikers motorcycle watch” police can be informed of our actions also.
It think the main plan is - try get as match footage as possible and should we be lucky enough to see someone in the act report it as it happens, but stay out of danger as we all personally see fit. Every instance is different. If you got 2 little 18 year olds on scoters breaking the steering lock and trying to push the bike off, and there is 4 of us the size of me and alex gold then following them is not such a “risk” but if six guys jump out of a van grab a bike and drive off, then all we could do was follow the van MAYBE at a distance of 2/3 cars back, knowing it cannot filter though traffic, but any closer approach would be very stupid.
But the phone call as it starts to happen in either case will be the most valuable thing, we see videos of it taking 10 - 30 mins at times to steal the bikes if someone who was actually looking saw it at minute 1, by minute 10 the police arrive… we hope
Exactly what i was thinking, just making sure at least one person in each group had some sort of camera in case we got “lucky” so to speak. Its a big deterrent if they think there is a chance that people are watching them.
I’d be up for that. But I’m thinking in more of a comedy circus clown sort of way. F*uck me that would be a surprise for them!