Follow-on to "Radio transmitter" thread

From CNN's web site.

AMSTERDAM, Holland (Reuters) -- Amsterdam police will use
bicycles equipped with hidden GPS transmitters to bait
thieves and track them down in the latest effort to stamp
out rampant bike theft, a police spokesman said Tuesday.

Cycling is a way of life in the pancake-flat Netherlands,
which boasts more bicycles than its 16 million inhabitants,
and in Amsterdam alone an estimated 80,000-150,000 bicycles
-- over one tenth of the total -- are stolen every year.

"It would be great to get hold of the organized bicycle
thieves, to track the whereabouts of stolen bikes and see if
any end up in an official bicycle shops," Amsterdam police
spokesman Rob van der Veen said. "We just want to do
everything we can to combat bicycle theft and are going to
use new GPS technology."

In a campaign starting in spring, police will leave locked
bikes with secret GPS emitters in Amsterdam's bike theft
hotspots such as the historic city center. GPS, the
worldwide radio-navigation system used for shipping and
military purposes, enables users to pinpoint the position,
speed and time to locate themselves or an object.

Bike theft is so widespread in the capital that rental
shops won't let customers leave without giving them a crash
course on bike locking -- attaching both wheels to the
frame, and chaining the bicycle to a fixed object, such as
a bike stand.

Van ver Veen said the initiative targeted professional
bicycle thieves, those who scour the city at night and steal
several bikes at a time putting them in vans or trailers.

According to a Web Site campaigning against bike theft in
Amsterdam (www.fietsendiefstal.nl), 40 percent of bike
thieves are professionals while 30 percent are drug addicts
who sell stolen bikes as quickly as possible to pay for
their next fix.

The remainder are usually impulsive thieves, sometimes
students or youths -- and very often drunk -- who steal a
bike to get home after their own was pinched.

Stephen C. Baker - Yacht Designer
http://members.aol.com/SailDesign/private/scbweb/home.htm

 

Stephen Baker wrote:
> From CNN's web site.
>
> AMSTERDAM, Holland (Reuters) -- Amsterdam police will use
> bicycles equipped with hidden GPS transmitters to bait
> thieves and track them down in the latest effort to stamp
> out rampant bike theft, a police spokesman said Tuesday.
<snip article>
> The remainder are usually impulsive thieves, sometimes
> students or youths -- and very often drunk -- who steal a
> bike to get home after their own was pinched.

Hmmmm. In my experience drunken youths that steal a bike to
get home after their own was pinched go after your
motorbike, hotwire it, spray paint it white, destructively
jury rig the various electrical and mechanical systems to
keep it going, and explain it to their Mum by saying that
it's their friend's bike....
--
Westie (Replace 'invalid' with 'yahoo' when replying.)

 

Westie says:

<snip-de-dip!>

I sense some animosity here, WEstie - is there a sob story
lurking deep within that you want to let out?....

;-)

Steve

 

Stephen Baker wrote:
> Westie says:
>
> <snip-de-dip!>
>
> I sense some animosity here, WEstie - is there a sob story
> lurking deep within that you want to let out?....
>
> ;-)
>
> Steve

LOL! No, not really. Previous post pretty much tells the sad
story. No; OK, here it is: I was left carrying the can for
the $2000 repair bill because the bike was recovered,
insurance wouldn't pay out and the bike napper was a minor
there for sentenced to 40 hours community service and a slap
on the hand.
--
Westie --Still emotionally scarred after all these years.--
(Replace 'invalid' with 'yahoo' when replying.)

 

Stephen Baker wrote:
> Westie says:
>
>> --Still emotionally scarred after all these years.--
>
> Aargh! Man, that inhales. Minors should have to pay up
> same as everyone else....
>
> Steve

I'll just mention one more thing; worst thing was that I was
only two years older than him at the time and had been
working full-time for a year and had it on payments....

--
Westie (Replace 'invalid' with 'yahoo' when replying.)

 

> Van ver Veen said the initiative targeted professional
> bicycle thieves, those who scour the city at night and
> steal several bikes at a time putting them in vans or
> trailers.
>
> According to a Web Site campaigning against bike theft in
> Amsterdam (www.fietsendiefstal.nl), 40 percent of bike
> thieves are professionals while 30 percent are drug
> addicts who sell stolen bikes as quickly as possible to
> pay for their next fix.
>
> The remainder are usually impulsive thieves, sometimes
> students or youths -- and very often drunk -- who steal a
> bike to get home after their own was pinched.
>
>
> Stephen C. Baker - Yacht Designer
> http://members.aol.com/SailDesign/private/scbweb/home.htm
>

I wonder if the local Radio Shack noticed any components for
building a radio jammer were missing the day after this
story was published
--
_________________________
Chris Phillipo - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia http://www.ramsays-
online.com

 

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> From CNN's web site.
>
> AMSTERDAM, Holland (Reuters) -- Amsterdam police will use
> bicycles equipped with hidden GPS transmitters to bait
> thieves and track them down in the latest effort to stamp
> out rampant bike theft, a police spokesman said Tuesday.
>
> Cycling is a way of life in the pancake-flat Netherlands,
> which boasts more bicycles than its 16 million
> inhabitants, and in Amsterdam alone an estimated 80,000-
> 150,000 bicycles -- over one tenth of the total -- are
> stolen every year.
>
> "It would be great to get hold of the organized bicycle
> thieves, to track the whereabouts of stolen bikes and see
> if any end up in an official bicycle shops," Amsterdam
> police spokesman Rob van der Veen said. "We just want to
> do everything we can to combat bicycle theft and are going
> to use new GPS technology."
>
> In a campaign starting in spring, police will leave locked
> bikes with secret GPS emitters in Amsterdam's bike theft
> hotspots such as the historic city center. GPS, the
> worldwide radio-navigation system used for shipping and
> military purposes, enables users to pinpoint the position,
> speed and time to locate themselves or an object.

Great idea. I'm wondering if they've thought this through as
much as the did the Yellow/White Bike programs that they've
implemented.

As pickups aren't too prevalent in Europe, I'll suppose that
thieves are using some sort of mini-van type Kombi vehicle
to grab bikes. Add a little chicken-mesh to the inside and
you've got a semi-Faraday cage, probably efficient enough to
allow for extraction or disableing of the internal GPS
components .

Bonus: You'll be able to soon be able to pickup some
real cheap GPS emitters (without battery) at the flea
markets too.

nk