To address bicycle crime, Metro PD should take it seriously

Public Safety

To address bicycle crime, Metro PD should take it seriously

by Geoff Hatchard • October 3, 2011 10:20 am

WMATA is trying to fight bicycle crime, the Examiner reported last week, and theft has declined somewhat this year. My experience with an a vandalized bike shows a few ways they can continue to improve.

Photo by the author.

On Thursday, September 22, on my way home from work and a community meeting, I stopped to pick up my bicycle at the New York Avenue Metro station. Nearby was another bicycle, with many of its parts missing, shown at right.

Crime needs to be reported, otherwise the police have no idea where they need to focus their attention. But when I called the Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD), the dispatcher told me that he couldn't take a report since I wasn't the bicycle owner.

I informed him that I had been able to do so before, and had called in multiple bicycles that had been similarly vandalized at that station. He promptly hung up on me.

The following Monday, while retrieving my bicycle after a day of work and community meetings, I ran into an MTPD officer at the station. He saw me approaching the bicycle racks and asked, "Is your bike still there?"

Sure, it was meant to be a joke to lighten the mood, but given the knowledge I have of what has been happening at the station and my most recent interaction with the MTPD dispatch, I didn't find it particularly funny. I told him, "Mine's fine, but I can't say the same for this guy," while pointing at the frame that remained locked up, sans wheels and gears, next to my bike.

The officer came over to look at it. He thought that the bike might have been stolen, locked up by a thief, and then vandalized by someone else. I told him about my attempt to call the crime in, and how the dispatcher rebuffed my plea for help. He mentioned that a sticker could be put on the bike (as in the photo below), then told me to have a good evening.

It's worth noting that the bicycle frame in the first photo was removed by Wednesday evening, but the one in the photo above has been there for weeks.

In the Examiner article, Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Taborn blames the victims of these crimes for allowing their bikes to be stolen and vandalized. "Many buy expensive bikes but buy inexpensive locks," he says, and while personal observation tells me that there certainly are bicycles that haven't been properly secured at the Metro station, there is also a lack of seriousness on the part of Taborn's force regarding crime.

If the attitude from the top of the MTPD is dismissive of bicycle-related crime, it's not surprising to see the rest of the force serving beneath him being apathetic about it as well. That's a real shame, and it's something that I hope will change. Blaming the victim and not accepting help from civilians when it's offered will keep MTPD from being as effective as it could be.

Cross-posted at The District Curmudgeon.

20 comments

Tags: bicycling, crime, police, WMATA

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Geoff Hatchard is a geographer working for the U.S. Census Bureau. He lives in DC's Trinidad neighborhood. The opinions and views expressed in Geoff's writing on this blog are his, and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer.

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Can he also stick one of those "TOW" stickers on the station-manager's illegally parked car?

by andrew on Oct 3, 2011 10:36 am • link • report

To be fair to MTPD, they can't be bothered to do anything about non-bicycle-related crimes either. It's not as if they're uniquely indifferent to bicycle theft or vandalism.

by cminus on Oct 3, 2011 10:42 am • link • report

Unfortunately, the police don't take bike crime seriously because so many bikes are unregistered and therefore untraceable. Bike Shepherd was set up to help cyclists and police the tools to protect and help recover bikes. Cyclists can register their bike on a global database. Listing a stolen bike, sending out Stolen Bike Alerts and viewing a stolen bike database are only three features of the program. The greatest deterrent is adding a Pulse ID Anti-theft tag. These are tamper-resistant tags that can be scanned by smartphones, immediately telling the police if the bike is stolen or not. Stolen bike alerts go out to localised, geo-tagged areas so fans, followers, bike shops and police can be in the know immediately after a bike has been stolen. Getting the local community of cyclists to watch out for each other is the first step to reducing bike crime, especially if the bikes are registered and tagged. This will give the police more incentive to take bike theft seriously, and act when they know they can trace a stolen bike back to its owner. For more information on the free service, go to bikeshepherd.org.

by Briand Beausoleil on Oct 3, 2011 10:50 am • link • report

I can't help but think that one reason why bike theft isn't a big deal -- or treated like a big deal -- is the insurance companies never pressure anyone.

I've had three bikes stolen, and in all three cases insurance would not cover the loss. Bikes were all sub-thousand dollar bikes, in one case well below (maybe $100) and a dedeuctible is $500.

by charlie on Oct 3, 2011 11:40 am • link • report

What about all of the loose bike frames downtown? How long do they have to be there before they get cleaned up?

A friend of mine once called them, "leftovers of urban warfare."

by Rocky from NE on Oct 3, 2011 11:44 am • link • report

Where do you get those "TOW" stickers? There are a couple of mangled bike frames right in front of my office next to Union Station.

I agree with Briand's point that everyone should register his/her bike. Law enforcement's bad attitude about bike theft isn't helped by the fact that most stolen bikes would be entirely untraceable.

by MJ on Oct 3, 2011 11:55 am • link • report

To steal a line from Richard Layman "what gets measured matters." And while MPD keeps track of how many bikes are reported stolen, they don't keep track of how many are returned to their owners.

Hopefully if MPD starts coming to meetings they can report on this once a year along with theft and arrest information. I hope that would pressure them to push back on one of the few types of crime that are increasing in the city.

Neither DDOT nor Metro bothers to run abandoned bikes they find through a stolen bike registry - [I'm not sure about MPD. MPD is supposed to]. Maybe that is a good idea because it would so rarely result in a hit, but I think it would be a good use of resources. And recovered bike serial numbers should be entered in a recovered bike registry as well.

Everyone should put photos of recovered bike online like Arlington does.

by David C on Oct 3, 2011 12:13 pm • link • report

I seriously doubt that the MPD would take the same attitude with stolen cars.
"Well Mr Moneybags, its your fault for driving a 2000 Camry. You should have gotten an older car, and more security"

by SJE on Oct 3, 2011 12:17 pm • link • report

charlie, I wouldn't recommend reporting your stolen bike on homeowner or renter's insurance. In one decade I made one claim on my renter's insurance - for a stolen bike - and I almost couldn't get home owner's insurance because of it.

I always recommend buying a lock with a guarantee that covers the cost of your bike. [Many brands will guarantee the lock up to a dollar amount]. Then immediately jump through all the hoops required to activate the guarantee - you often have to send in a bunch of info within 30 days. If your bike is stolen, file with them. Keep photocopies of everything.

by David C on Oct 3, 2011 12:18 pm • link • report

One the one hand WMATA wants to increase bike mode share from 0.7% to 2.1% by 2020 and 3.5% by 2030. One the other hand the perceived likelihood of theft or vandalism acts as a deterrent (at least in my case - I would never consider leaving a bike at a Metro station).

Getting Metro to directly sponsor bikeshare at its stations would help (seems like a no-brainer but have never seen/heard any indication this has ever been considered). Getting Metro to take a more serious approach to bike security at its stations would help. Neither seems likely to happen but one can still hope.

by intermodal commuter on Oct 3, 2011 12:27 pm • link • report

Metro is subsidized. So having them sponsor bikeshare means sending a subsidy to Metro that they then send to Bikeshare. That doesn't really make sense. Metro needs every dollar it has.

But, I believe Metro lets bikeshare put stations on their property - and if not, they should.

Furthermore, they are looking to create more secure parking and set up cameras, etc... but it takes time.

by David C on Oct 3, 2011 12:38 pm • link • report

@davidC; yes. the one time I had an opportunity (600 new bike, stolen -- 500 deductible) it was not worth it to recover $100 and posisbly face a rate hike.

The various bike lock insurance schemes always seem like a scam. With Kryptonite, you have to send in the bike lock (broken) to get your money back. In my cases, the bikes were locked in two of them but no sign of the (presumably) broken lock. In the other, the bike was not locked on a third floor baclony, but there is a second story man out there who will climb your gutter.

@SJE; I strongly suspect MTPD would take the exact attitude with a crappy older car.

by charlie on Oct 3, 2011 12:47 pm • link • report

Part of the problem is citizen indifference too. I remember seeing a couple of kids eying a bike chained to the fence of a church near my house. One 12 year old looking at an adult bike would have raised my suspicions ... but one 12 year old and one (maybe) 8 year old doing so, really raised my suspicions. I questioned whether it was their bike ... and they shouted back "mind your own damn business' ... and went right back to picking up the bike and tugging at the tie down. I waved my cell phone to them and told them I was calling the police ... With a few swear words they continued on their way. I guess what I found really shocking was their attitude. It was like they didn't have a clue what they were doing was wrong. No shame in the least was exhibited. Looking back, I should have just straight out called the police ... and let their parents talk some shame into them.

by Lance on Oct 3, 2011 12:56 pm • link • report

@David C:

I was just about to make charlie's point: what good is the bike lock insurance if it requires that you send in the broken lock? How often does a thief leave the broken lock behind for your documentation purposes?

by Gray on Oct 3, 2011 1:02 pm • link • report

We see this in London all the time. Thieves are caught stealing a bike on CCTV but most of the time nothing happens. Sometimes the police don't even want to investigate. But when thieves caught in the act by people with cell phones, this gets onto Twitter, FB and local bike sites and they end up getting caught. The common man may be indifferent, but cyclists are a small group and when motivated, can work together. We're getting more recovered bike due to the social media side, coupled with the tagged bikes. It may take some time, but we believe a grass-roots approach is the answer. Same with road rage. A head-cam armed cyclist run off the road and punched by the motorist couldn't get the police' attention till he put his video out on youtube. Perpetrators turned themselves in.

by Briand Beausoleil on Oct 3, 2011 1:05 pm • link • report

True, they may not leave a piece of the broken lock but they might. Furthermore, I talked to someone from Kryptonite at InterBike and they said that if that happens send in everything else you do have and they will "work with you." I asked them what that meant, and they said they can't make any promises, but that they often issue partial of full refunds with only some of the requirements met.

by David C on Oct 3, 2011 1:13 pm • link • report

"Many buy expensive bikes but buy inexpensive locks,"

And carbon fibre is the sluttiest of structural materials.

by Kolohe on Oct 3, 2011 9:01 pm • link • report

No, with cars they let the thieves go as soon as the thief says, "Some guy let me borrow the car." I suppose we could dream of a day when the same is true with bikes.

by Mr. Carlin on Oct 4, 2011 9:41 am • link • report

@David C: "Metro is subsidized. So having them sponsor bikeshare means sending a subsidy to Metro that they then send to Bikeshare. That doesn't really make sense. Metro needs every dollar it has. "

It's not about subsidy, it's about making it happen. If WMATA wants to increase bike modal share it should be taking lead on bringing bikeshare to Metro stations - sorting out costs etc is merely an implementation detail.

by intermodal commuter on Oct 4, 2011 10:38 am • link • report

After having my last bike stolen, the police told me "they'd keep an eye out for it"...right. Now I have a folding bike so that I take inside with me most places. On the occasion where I do have to lock outside, i fold it, and pass the U-lock through both wheels and the frame. I also think that with the bike folded, your average bike thief will move along to something that looks easier to deal with.

by Chris on Oct 11, 2011 12:38 pm • link • report