Survey: Stolen Bicycle Sales at Oakland's Laney College

[plattyjo]

I'm working with local law enforcement, Laney College, managers of the flea market on their premises and the East Bay Bicycle Coalition to help change the ongoing problem of stolen bicycles being sold there on the weekend. Please read this post (http://www.plattyjo.com/survey-stolen-bicycles-sales-at-laney-college/)and share your thoughts in the comments. And feel free to share widely as we'd like as much feedback as possible. Thank you!

[rwsaunders]

PJ...I'm voting for you when you run for attorney general. Nice work.:cool:

[Louis]

PJ...I'm voting for you when you run for attorney general.

I can hear the attack ads now: "But what did PJ think the bike thieves were going to do, once they no longer could steal and fence bikes?

She should have known that they would switch to taking the grade-school kids' lunch money!"

[plattyjo]

Haha - I'm staying out of politics. I'd rather pressure them to make change than enter into that game!

[d6025k]

PJ, your tireless efforts in this department are commendable!

Ive had THREE bikes stolen in the last six months. Being new to the East Bay and working ungodly amounts, I was unable to go to the flea markets due to time and scheduling restraints. Constant trolling of eBay and CL yielded only slight information, notably, that at least two of them were still in the Bay not Sac or LA or where ever.

I'd bet they were ultimately sold at a flea market and would be happy if that option was closed to all as a place to pick up a bike. Online market places, Bike Co-ops or bike shops is where you buy a bikes. Flea markets and pawn shops are inherently shady and ripe for disingenuous sellers.

I like yard sales and shop at flea markets too, but the motivation to snatch bikes is hi considering you can flip them unchecked any given weekend for quick cash. I know people sell other stolen stuff too but they dont lock their art work, speakers or dish sets out on the street, they decide to sell them.

Hope this helps, just one bitter man's opinion.

[plattyjo]

PJ, your tireless efforts in this department are commendable!

Ive had THREE bikes stolen in the last six months. Being new to the East Bay and working ungodly amounts, I was unable to go to the flea markets due to time and scheduling restraints. Constant trolling of eBay and CL yielded only slight information, notably, that at least two of them were still in the Bay not Sac or LA or where ever.

I'd bet they were ultimately sold at a flea market and would be happy if that option was closed to all as a place to pick up a bike. Online market places, Bike Co-ops or bike shops is where you buy a bikes. Flea markets and pawn shops are inherently shady and ripe for disingenuous sellers.

I like yard sales and shop at flea markets too, but the motivation to snatch bikes is hi considering you can flip them unchecked any given weekend for quick cash. I know people sell other stolen stuff too but they dont lock their art work, speakers or dish sets out on the street, they decide to sell them.

Hope this helps, just one bitter man's opinion.

Ugh, 3 bikes! I'm so sorry. That's truly awful. An easy way to troll CL is to set alerts using IFTTT.com; that way you don't have to do it manually (eBay has built-in functionality for alerts.) You should leave them up indefinitely as you never know when/where they might show up!

Thanks for your input and I hope your bikes stay safe from now on. But if don't hesitate to reach out if you need recovery advice.

[Ken Robb]

If you find your stolen bike what is required to prove you own it?

[bart998]

If you find your stolen bike what is required to prove you own it?

At the time you report it stolen you should give them the serial# or an "owner applied" number, like your driver's license. Some people put notes inside the bicycle, but if you see it on the street who is going to let you take apart their bike to prove it? Still, a note taped to the steerer tube is better than nothing.
That said... photos, photos, photos.

[Louis]

If I lived and rode in a super high-risk area I would consider three things, in increasing order of difficulty:

1) Something painted on the bottom of a chain-stay, just aft of the BB,

2) Piece of paper taped into the seatpost,

3) Something painted or taped on the steerer tube.

[Ken Robb]

how would the authorities know that an owner of a bike hadn't put those id items and pix in place,sold the bike without revealing them to an innocent buyer and then claimed it was stolen?

I don't really think a low-life bike thief would go to that much trouble. I wonder if some PDs have written policy on acceptable "proof of ownership" or if it's left up to the officer's discretion/judgement.

[Louis]

how would the authorities know that an owner of a bike hadn't put those id items and pix in place,sold the bike without revealing them to an innocent buyer and then claimed it was stolen?

Ken, are you proposing that the state / DMV maintain a title registry for bicycles? Because that's how that problem is handled for cars.

[Saxon]

how would the authorities know that an owner of a bike hadn't put those id items and pix in place,sold the bike without revealing them to an innocent buyer and then claimed it was stolen?

Actually... a bike dealer in the Oakland area told me this was a common scam. They report the bike stolen, then sell it to one of the well known flea market resellers, wait until the bike pops up for sale on Craigslist/eBay and call the police. Pretty amazing.

[Ken Robb]

Ken, are you proposing that the state / DMV maintain a title registry for bicycles? Because that's how that problem is handled for cars.

Nope--We tried requiring bike registration some years ago and it was far more trouble than it was worth. I have heard that the proof required to reclaim stolen goods varies by location and couldn't help wondering what would keep dishonest people from running the scam I described. Saxon confirms that unfortunately I'm not the first person to think of the idea.

[plattyjo]

Ideally, if you bought your bike new from a shop, they would have a system in place where they document the sale. Sports Basement, for instance, keep a record of the serial numbers for all of the bikes they sell. It's best for owners to keep a copy of the original store receipt with the serial number and pass that on if you sell it. Or they help you register it on the spot with an online registry.

With used bikes, it's harder to track at times -- although I haven't heard of the above scam being used in recently in the Bay Area AFAIK (not to say it hasn't happened, of course.)

But certainly, photos - especially ones posted on a public site so they have a time/date stamp of sorts - can be used as proof.

[Louis]

But certainly, photos - especially ones posted on a public site so they have a time/date stamp of sorts - can be used as proof.

As proof, or as a shopping list for bad guys, if we're being paranoid about it. :(

[Ahneida Ride]

You steal a bike ...

You spend 10 minutes at the Uncle William recuperation center.

Problem solved ....

It's really that simple ...

[Waldo]

How about asking Berkeley PD to do something about Karim's?

[blessthismess]

How about asking Berkeley PD to do something about Karim's?

Didn't they try to bust him a few years back? I thought they raided Karim's but didn't have enough evidence to make the case stick?

*edit

Here's the link to that article: http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2005-11-11/article/22733

They were not able to prove that he knew that any the bikes were stolen. Unfortunately in this case amoral is not always illegal