Economic evaluation of bicycle theft

[tiretrax]

http://blog.priceonomics.com/post/30393216796/what-happens-to-stolen-bicycles

[MattTuck]

That's pretty interesting. Probably true that lack of substantial punishments make the 'market' operate poorly. Especially considering the monetary value of some bikes is way more than the value of drugs that people get sent to prison for.

[Ahneida Ride]

Great Article !

[Aaron O]

Really interesting...I've always wondered why cities trying to promote cycling continue to treat it like a summary offense. I know that large cities have other priorities, but if we have time to bother with prostitution busts, I'd think we can manage a couple targeted decoy programs.

[Ahneida Ride]

You steal a bike ....

You spend a few friendly minutes visiting Uncle William
out in his woodshed.

Problem Solved.

:banana: :banana:

[esldude]

Maybe in big cities you need to form a league of distinguished stolen bike victims. Have the league visit and 'counsel' any bike thief that does get caught.

"Counsel" could include things like demonstrations to known thieves about the dangers of carbon fiber shards entering the body when it asplodes. Accidental broken spoke puncture dangers. The dangers of stealing an aluminum bike that suffered unnoticed metal fatigue and what happens if the frame breaks while you ride the stolen bike away. Well you get the picture. The point being a bike thief needs to be educated into all the risks he may not foresee that he is in fact taking beyond incarceration when he steals a bike.

[djg]

That's pretty interesting. Probably true that lack of substantial punishments make the 'market' operate poorly. Especially considering the monetary value of some bikes is way more than the value of drugs that people get sent to prison for.

Yeah. I'm guessing the incredibly low probability of apprehension (discovery + arrest + charges + conviction) figures heavily in the expected harm calculation, if we suppose people do something roughly like that. It's sorry news, but entirely plausible to me that solving a bike crime is not deemed to be worth much when they allocate scarce police resources, and then comes the court system, etc.

Had my prized cross bike stolen last fall. Did all sorts of e-searches, including the general roving CL searches that check all over. Never saw it anywhere although, plainly, it went somewhere. I wasn't a little kid with an out-of-work dad. I was a grown man with money in the bank and good homeowner's insurance. Not indifferent to the expense, but I could afford a replacement just fine. It still sucked.