Bikes And Crime

In some areas, I keep having cops check my bike, and other bikes that may be near it. When I asked why I see so many bikes being checked, he said they are used for crimes from selling drugs to murder getaways. I never hear about cyclists being involved in this on the news though. Has anybody heard of this?

 

I've never heard of anything like this. What sort of areas do you get checked in? Like, certain sketchy neighbourhoods in a big city? I mean it doesn't surprise me to hear that bikes would be involved in crimes, I mean they are pretty convenient...

 

This is in Homewood, AL, a fairly upscale area. ...though I also get checked all over Birmingham and Bessemer.

 

I have not seen this in my town, which is in Oregon. My town requires everyone to get a "license" for their bike. It's just a $2 sticker with a number and you give them your name, adress and phone number. No big deal, but if your bike should happen to be stolen, you can call the cops and report it and they'll be able to keep a lookout for it. If I saw cops checking bikes I would assume it was because someone reported a theft and they were checking to see if any of the bikes parked there happened to be the one reported stolen.

 

Okay so the license thing sounds like a smart idea. I've never seen the police checking bikes for anything in London, although I'm pretty sure I have seen people actually in the process of stealing bikes (fiddling with locks then quickly walking away etc.) Maybe we should get something like a bike license? (maybe we already have it and I just don't know about it?)

 

Yeah it would probably reduce bike thefts... But then again maybe you would have to pay road tax, insurance and be required to pay for a licence?

 

Well, we did just have a serial rapist arrested and that dude approached his victims on a bicycle.



West Side 'Bicycle Rapist' indicted for serial attacks
WKYC Staff 12:49 p.m. EDT March 12, 2015


Brown had been due to be released May 19, but instead he will be returning to Cuyahoga County to stand trial on these new charges.


http://www.wkyc.com/story/news/local/cuyahoga-county/2015/03/12/west-side-bicycle-rapist-indicted-for-serial-attacks/70210062/





Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court







CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A convicted violent criminal who preyed on women between 2003 and 2008 on Cleveland's West Side -- often approaching his victims while riding a bicycle -- has been indicted for the rapes of three women, according to Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty.

The Grand Jury charged Joe Brown, 38, of Cleveland, with four counts of rape, three counts of kidnapping, one count of aggravated robbery and one count of gross sexual imposition.

Right now Brown is in prison in the Richland Correctional Institution where he is serving a four-year sentence for felonious assault. In that case, he attacked a 15-year-old girl in the area of West 76th Street and Detroit Avenue in 2003.

He was indicted and convicted in 2011 after investigation by the Cold Case Unit of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office.

Brown had been due to be released May 19, but instead he will be returning to Cuyahoga County to stand trial on these new charges.

The indictment charges Brown with the Nov. 11, 2003, rape of a 17-year-old victim near West 73rd Street and Lorain Avenue; with the June 18, 2008, rape of a 23-year-old near West 92nd Street and Detroit Avenue; and with the Oct. 6, 2008, rape of a 20-year-old near West 46th Street and Detroit Avenue.

Rape kits were taken following each attack and were tested by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation as part of Attorney General Mike DeWine's Sexual Assault Kit Initiative. DNA profiles obtained from those kits matched Brown's profile in the Combined DNA Index System.

These matches were reported to the Cuyahoga County Sexual Assault Kit Task Force, a collaborative effort of the Cleveland Division of Police, the Cuyahoga County Sheriffs Department, BCI and the County Prosecutor's Office. After additional investigation by the task force, the cases were presented to the Grand Jury.

The task force's work has now led to indictments against 264 defendants, according to McGinty.



We have had several recent cases of robbers, muggers and burglars that used bicycles as their mode of transportation. Every local police recovered property auction has from dozens to hundreds of stolen bikes listed.

 

Well, what can I say... A bike is not a statement of moral character or worth ... But there are "them" and "us" - anyone can get and ride a bike, even scum of the earth. Serious cyclists on carbon fiber bikes wearing the uniform and tracking their stats with GPS on a Garmin or Strava aren't gonna be part of the criminal class.

 

Why do you read this sh^t?

You keep telling yourself that...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSog-u9mLKQ

 

Whoa, what?? May I ask what metro you're in? I've never had a cop check my bike, I've had one pull me over because he thought I pulled out in front of a car, and because I'd coasted past a stop sign.

 

That's happened to me before as well. However, I AM in Chicago so I don't think it should be a surprise at all. I've been pulled over for being a suspect in a crime RECENTLY commited as well as had my bike looked at.

 

They used to do license inspections on campus at MSU to make sure they got their $2. If your bike was stolen they took a report but said kids it goodbye, we have hundreds stolen each term, we can't do anything. I lost two there.

 

We have a few drunks that ride mopeds and bicycles. Everyone calls then 'liquorcycles'.

 

According to what the cops here are telling me, liquorcycles are the least of our problems. Instead, they're looking for "crack-racks" (which does not mean the rider's pants aren't high enough), landscapers (again with "that" grass), and the like.

 

Here in Colombia everyone rides bikes, including the police. You will only ever get checked out on your bike if you happen to be in an area where a recent crime has occurred. In my town gang and mafia-related drive-by shootings are relatively common, but they never happen on bicycles. The most common vehicle used in crimes is the "moto", which is referred to everything from a light weight scooter to a Harley Davidson.

 

Moto=motorcycle. Most drive by shootings here are from "donks" (those high-riding luxury cars that have a logo on them) or a different kind (of "shooting", not a crime per se) from anything a teenage boy may drive.

 

I don't associate cops with bike crime ever. Where I live, so many bikes are missing and stolen from private properties and the police do next to nothing about it. I've also never heard of bikes being checked for crime related activity where I live. I would assume that it depends on what part of town. I live in Canada so maybe things are much different.

 

Luckily, I live in a rural area where there isn't much crime at all. As a matter of fact, there has been one recorded incident in the past year. Someone came here from town and got stranded. They stole my neighbors truck to get home.

 

Well, living in South Africa which is unfortunately one of the crime capitals of the world, I've never experienced this here. One thing is for certain, if I don't lock up my bike when I'm visiting the supermarket or post office - my bike is as good as gone.

I guess the cops in your area must be onto something. Perhaps there may be criminal gangs around that are using bicycles to transport drugs and engage in other nefarious activities.

 

But why would they be checking the bike. It's not like you have a big license plate and someone reported it. Maybe they are just looking for similar models to what has been seen at the crime.