**BEFORE POSTING
Use this thread only to give suggestions for how you’d like to see the database implemented and presented on London Bikers.
Do not start going off on one or arguing with someone about their suggestion or some other nonsense etc, stick to the topic point.
Keep your suggestion concise also as neither I or any other mod has time to trawl through waffle before a main point has been made.
Stay on point!
And with that…The floor is open**
reg number, frame/engine number, make, model, colour, area stolen from at the very least I imagine.shando
Method use to nick the bike… ie. Bolt croppers, carried away, van etc
It would be interesting to see how many thiefs actually overcome chains and anchors etc
Excellent…Keep 'em coming peeps.
Would you like it presented like as a large spreadsheet with rows and columns, or just individual posts from forum members?
What about an online searchable database that can be exported to spreadsheet, or even to printable format (e.g. last “month” worth) or something so people can pin it up in places like the Ace or Box Hill?
Being able to add pictures would be good too.
If you need any help one the IT side, I’d be more than happy to put something together and can offer some hosting space (don’t know if you want to do this as “London Bikers” or as something completely different.
I like the layout on My Stolen Land Rover
Along with bike details, it carries crime ref. police phone number.
Just a thought, but it might be best if people lucky enough to get their bikes back don’t say so on the database.
Thieves watching it would know there’s now a bike there again - complete with registration number, a picture and security details.
also writing what security the theives got through…that way we could know what chains or alarms they managed to bypass and how?
I’d like to see a clear purpose.1. IMO, and in light of charged parking in London…, I’d suggest we use the number of victims of nicked bikes as a lobby group to accelerate the implementation of secure bays. (i.e no security, no charge)
Ok sorry to be really annoying, but you need to be aware that a lot of this data is potentially covered by the Data Protection Act 1988.This Act covers Personal Data:
Any data which can be used to identify a living person. This includes names, birthday and anniversary dates, addresses, telephone numbers, Fax numbers, e-mail addresses etc. It only applies to that data which is held, or intended to be held, on computers (‘equipment operating automatically in response to instructions given for that purpose’), or held in a ‘relevant filing system’.
It should be noted that an ordinary paper diary can be classified as a ‘relevant filing system’ if it can be demonstrated that the diary is used to support commercial activities (eg, a Salesperson’s diary).
The eight principles of Data Protection are:
Data may only be used for the specific purposes for which it was collected. Data must not be disclosed to other parties without the consent of the individual whom it is about, unless there is legislation or other overriding legitimate reason to share the information (for example, the prevention or detection of crime). It is an offence for Other Parties to obtain this personal data without authorisation. Individuals have a right of access to the information held about them, subject to certain exceptions (for example, information held for the prevention or detection of crime). Personal information may be kept for no longer than is necessary. Personal information may not be transmitted outside the EEA unless the individual whom it is about has consented or adequate protection is in place, for example by the use of a prescribed form of contract to govern the transmission of the data. Subject to some exceptions for organisations that only do very simple processing, and for domestic use, all entities that process personal information must register with the Information Commissioner. Entities holding personal information are required to have adequate security measures in place. Those include technical measures (such as firewalls) and organisational measures (such as staff training). The Act is structured such that all processing of personal data is covered by the act, while providing a number of exemptions in Part IV. Notable exemptions are:
Section 28 - National security. Any processing for the purpose of safeguarding national security are exempt from all the data protection principles, as well as Part II (subject access rights), Part III (notification), Part V (enforcement), and Section 55 (Unlawful obtaining of personal data). Section 29 - Crime and taxation. Data processed for the prevention or detection of crime, the apprehension or prosecution of offenders, or the assessment or collection of taxes are exempt from the first data protection principle. Section 36 - Domestic purposes. Processing by an individual only for the purposes of that individual’s personal, family or household affairs is exempt from all the data protection principles, as well as Part II (subject access rights) and Part III (notification). You need to go through the list and let me know if the exemptions apply etc…If I think of any other legal/compliance stuff, Ill let you know…
Thanks Gabs.
Any system we implemented would of course adhere to the DPA. I’m thinking of building a lightweight system separate to the LB system but hosted on the site, i.e. thefts.londonbikers.com or some-such address.
I’m watching this thread to see what people want from such a system, what the benefits could be and how it could be safe-guarded in a way that meant it wasn’t of use to the criminal fraternity.
If there’s a genuine benefit by having such a system, then I’m more than happy to donate some of my time to develop something that can be accessed by the public (i.e. no LB membership required).
if we could query all fields, so if someone was looking at buying a bike, they could search on the bike ID numbers, but think its a great idea, once word got out about this, I’m sure everyone out there would back you.
Queryable is excellent info source for bike-buyers. Establishes LB as a valid AUTHORITY (not that it isn’t already)
The easy printable is also useful, as collating hte info would make a useful tool for liaising with the Met with… I’m sure they’d appreciate us collecting info that could show patterns that they may not have time for.
The bike’s essentials. VIN, age, colour, make, licence (only visible to staff), mileage if known, and importantly mods AND identifying scratches/dings/stickers
The security breached, location of theft, action taken (eg “insurance paid out” or similar) so latest info is available.
Then a final box perhaps for “any relevant info” eg - witness saw 3 men and a van, 4 kiddies had bolt croppers, etc. Every little helps and this will go towards identifying crims MO’s in that particular area.
Keep it simple and don’t have to much detail on it…as mentioned above, it may advertise potential pickings for the criminal scrotes out there.
Any bike stolen will have the minimum change done to it, the registration plate…so in some cases the VIN will be intact or if not, then it’ll be obvious that its been tampered with.
Therefore, keep it to Reg number, VIN, make, model and colour and where it was taken. Also include what security you had on the bike. Pictures are good, but only worth putting on if they don’t show anything in the background that could make it easy for crims to locate you.
With regards to different Police Forces communicating properly…it does happen but can be a slow process. As mentioned somewhere before, it would help if all forces had a liason member that would communicate with other force laison officers. Once this list is up and running it would be worth highlighting it with the MET and see if they’d take this on. I’m happy to source a point of contact nearer the time if you want as I work for them at the Pound.
+2
You’d think the victim would beef up security after the fact to help prevent it happening again, but I agree that if it was a Tracker or some such device that allowed the vehicle to be recovered, that this should not be disclosed.
In fact, no mention of Tracker should ever be made.
Great points Dutch
Keep an eye on dodgey looking bikes and parts that are in the process of been sold. For example look at bikes on EBAY and bikes that are been broken into parts for sale.
Another 2 things I thought could be useful:
RSS feed, configurable, so forums could have a banner running with “recently stolen” and configure to make it applicable. So this site would have stolen from London area, the KTM forum could filter on KTMs stolen …
Could we get buy-in from event organisers like trackday people? We could write a little app that they can use to download to a laptop the last stolen DB the night before the event, then during scrutineering they can take VIN numbers and input them in the app to see if there’s a match?
In return for this effort, we could offer them free advertising on the main site as an incentive?
Jay, as mentioned above, I’d be more than happy to “donate” some time and technical expertise for this, and could also look at donating bandwidth/server resource if needed.
Haven’t looked around much to see if this link has been posted but thought i’d get it up as soon as i saw it.
London may be a safer place if we know this face.
