A
Andy Leighton
Guest
On Fri, 3 Aug 2007 11:54:03 +0100,
John Rowland <[email protected]> wrote:
> Dylan Smith wrote:
>> On 2007-08-02, howard <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>> Camden Police left a few decoy bikes around. All were stolen within
>>>> an hour IIRC. They led the police to thieves and their caches of
>>>> product that weren't just bicycles. They were happy with the
>>>> results.
>>>
>>> It's entrapment. Im still not clear if that's legal ?
>>
>> No it's not. Entrapment would be, say, if the police officer actively
>> encouraged somebody to commit a crime. Leaving a bicycle parked that
>> happens to belong to the police, and which they happen to be able to
>> track is not entrapment, because normally law abiding people would not
>> steal the bike.
>
> So is picking up something you find in the street a crime?
Quite possibly theft by finding. I think you have to take reasonable
steps to ascertain that the items have indeed been abandoned or are
ownerless.
> back yard next to the bins - was that a crime? If I found an unlocked bike
> with nobody near, I would consider it to be abandoned and presume that if I
> didn't take it, someone else would.
Well I wouldn't have had a bike for most of my childhood then. Nor
would my mates. We lived in a very small town and no-one bothered to
lock up bikes.
--
Andy Leighton => [email protected]
"The Lord is my shepherd, but we still lost the sheep dog trials"
- Robert Rankin, _They Came And Ate Us_
John Rowland <[email protected]> wrote:
> Dylan Smith wrote:
>> On 2007-08-02, howard <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>> Camden Police left a few decoy bikes around. All were stolen within
>>>> an hour IIRC. They led the police to thieves and their caches of
>>>> product that weren't just bicycles. They were happy with the
>>>> results.
>>>
>>> It's entrapment. Im still not clear if that's legal ?
>>
>> No it's not. Entrapment would be, say, if the police officer actively
>> encouraged somebody to commit a crime. Leaving a bicycle parked that
>> happens to belong to the police, and which they happen to be able to
>> track is not entrapment, because normally law abiding people would not
>> steal the bike.
>
> So is picking up something you find in the street a crime?
Quite possibly theft by finding. I think you have to take reasonable
steps to ascertain that the items have indeed been abandoned or are
ownerless.
> back yard next to the bins - was that a crime? If I found an unlocked bike
> with nobody near, I would consider it to be abandoned and presume that if I
> didn't take it, someone else would.
Well I wouldn't have had a bike for most of my childhood then. Nor
would my mates. We lived in a very small town and no-one bothered to
lock up bikes.
--
Andy Leighton => [email protected]
"The Lord is my shepherd, but we still lost the sheep dog trials"
- Robert Rankin, _They Came And Ate Us_