http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: More bikes stolen in Porty en Sat, 20 Jun 2026 21:51:46 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-176823 Mon, 05 Jan 2015 12:12:43 +0000 chdot 176823@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"</p> <p>Social Media bike-theft dangers [particularly if you have a valuable/ high-end bike] [This article is based on a CCE forum discussion].</p> <p>"</p> <p><a href="http://www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/documents/advice/security" rel="nofollow">http://www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/documents/advice/security</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-137406 Wed, 18 Dec 2013 10:26:57 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 137406@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Nope, not according to the cops I spoke to (my garage is connected to the house but tis only a 'lockfast place' (thanks riffian, I'd forgotten the specific archaic sounding term). </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-137385 Wed, 18 Dec 2013 06:44:43 +0000 Charterhall 137385@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@riffian/WC, out of interest does it make any difference if the garage is standalone or integral to the house ? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-137382 Wed, 18 Dec 2013 01:26:32 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 137382@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Cheers custard. Trust me, so do I! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-137371 Tue, 17 Dec 2013 23:23:27 +0000 riffian 137371@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@WC - correct. Scots offenses are 'theft by opening lockfast place' and 'opening lockfast place with intent to steal'. Quite distinct from 'Theft by housebreaking'. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-137171 Mon, 16 Dec 2013 19:04:41 +0000 custard 137171@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@Wilmington's Cow I still look out for your bike<br /> Im convinced it will appear at some point </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-137119 Mon, 16 Dec 2013 14:30:47 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 137119@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>No. Sheds and garages don't, they are classified as 'unlawful entry into locked premises' or something similar. But they definitely do not count towards housebreaking stats. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-137114 Mon, 16 Dec 2013 14:05:36 +0000 chdot 137114@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/crime/elite-squad-to-tackle-housebreaking-in-edinburgh-1-3234684" rel="nofollow">http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/crime/elite-squad-to-tackle-housebreaking-in-edinburgh-1-3234684</a></p> <p>I hope sheds/garages/stairs count as housebreaking. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-129309 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 13:04:56 +0000 crowriver 129309@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>They are often carrying something that can be used as a weapon if need be. One evening a few weeks ago I was walking round the corner to the shops with my son. I saw a familiar trio of young lads wearing hoodies at the end of the street: familiar because the week before I had run after them late at night, after I caught them kicking in the close door.</p> <p>They did not notice me but one very quickly slid something under a trade waste bin as the others looked around onto the main road. They then sauntered off. I peered under the bin as I walked by to see a stainless steel claw hammer! Now I know which wee gang have been smashing car windows to nick stuff around here...</p> <p>I would have phoned the cops but I'd left my mobile at home. All part of the fun of living in the city! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-129308 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 13:03:37 +0000 steveo 129308@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Still think wiring up the door to the mains could come under poor health and saftey type incident rather than a deliberate attempt to fry the wee sods. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-129306 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 12:37:52 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 129306@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Dave, it's the original 30s door, so I was loathe to think about replacing it. Sad he the actions of a few individuals can lead you to think about removing one of the original characteristics of your house.</p> <p>And aye algo, those vigilante thoughts are strong in the mind. My oter half mentioned to the police before I got home that I'd been riding home through Niddrie in the hope of finding the bikes. They weren't too concerned about that, but only as long as I didn't challenge anyone as they usually, apparently, travel in packs. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-129304 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 12:35:34 +0000 PS 129304@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>The metadata thing doesn't wash for me unless it's a high-end bike, stolen to order (no offence, WC ;-) ). </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-129301 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 12:17:18 +0000 DaveC 129301@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@WC, I'm surprised you have windows in your garage! Mine are all boarded up, to prevent anyone from casing my garage. No it won't stop thieves from looking in the house, but my house is a lot more secure than my garage. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-129298 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 12:04:34 +0000 algo 129298@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@WC I'm really sorry to hear you and your partner are now feeling unsafe in your own home. I have nothing very useful to say, but I know it's totally rubbish - I have been in the same situation. All I can say is that it will go away somewhere else - it did for me. I was faced with the same helplessness on the part of the police - I did understand that, but it's horrible to hear.</p> <p>In my weaker moments, I was even prone to the odd reactionary vigilante thought. Would never do any good though of course. The only deterrent I ever found was to cover places they might put their hands in CV grease - no harm will come to them, but they will think it's disgusting and won't be able to grab hold of anything for a while. Just remember where you put it yourself! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-129295 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 11:59:20 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 129295@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"<em>we know at least one person who posts the GPS data from his runs on Faceevil and you can see perfectly where his front door is. He also goes away a lot and posts about that too.</em>"</p> <p>Strava and Flickr it's easy to set privacy zones (and I have). Facebook is annoying as it keeps changing settings, and you have to get into the habit of changing them back. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-129289 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 11:40:42 +0000 crowriver 129289@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>The whole forum thing and the metadata thing are probably unlikely. Photoshop strips EXIF/GPS data from images if you 'save for web' but I did this anyway, not specifically because I wanted rid of EXIF/GPS.</p> <p>That said, I've always been a bit cautious about revealing my real name on public discussion forums, and certainly not where I live, where I store my bikes, etc. There's always a chance (however small) that the "neds" are in fact reading bike forums, or even are registered members. I recall it was not that difficult for EEN commenters to track a few CCErs down, copy'n'paste stuff from here to there. That was just to flame of course, but others might use search engines to find information for different purposes...</p> <p>One cannot assume that "neds" are not tech savvy. Unscientific perhaps but many seem to possess rather fancy smartphones. It is often possible to enjoy a robust public musical performance from said devices when one travels by public transport, or be regaled with unabashedly raucous comments regardng the user's online social network experiences. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-129284 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 11:34:19 +0000 Min 129284@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>Probably fair, but does come across a little like the theft version of 'you must wear a hi-viz jacket and helmet otherwise you're just asking to die'.</em></p> <p>No I don't think so, more like "use a d-lock to secure your bike rather than a piece of string and it will be <em>less</em> likely to get stolen". :-)</p> <p>Of course it is a little far-fetched to believe that the internets have been used on this occasion as you say but as an example we know at least one person who posts the GPS data from his runs on Faceevil and you can see perfectly where his front door is. He also goes away a lot and posts about that too. Just doesn't seem like a good idea to me. In fact I could go and rob him right now as I know he is travelling in Eastern Europe. Fortunately I am not a scumbag! Well, not a thieving scumbag at least. ;-) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400&page=2#post-129282 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 11:20:58 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 129282@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"<em>I think the advice not to post too much detail about what you have, where you live and when you are going to be out is sound. And possibly not what all of your anti-theft devices are either?</em>"</p> <p>Probably fair, but does come across a little like the theft version of 'you must wear a hi-viz jacket and helmet otherwise you're just asking to die'.</p> <p>That said, I'd think posting anywhere that you've now got this lock and that lock, and bolts and an alarm would, surely, actually serve to put people off? 'Well I might as well go to that house cos it's just got the one lock...' Kind of like simply making your bike look like more hassle to steal than the one beside it.</p> <p>I'd still be stunned if the neds in this case (given the nature of the theft before, and the break in yesterday), would have been as efficient to have trawled the internet, found CCE, read through threads looking for reports of stolen bikes, got my username, searched again to see if there were any threads about going out, found the thread about the cyclocross, assumed I'd be going myself, break in in broad daylight when any of the neighbours could be going about (and were, they were spotted fleeing by a couple). Rather than 'remember that garage we broke into because we saw the car with the bike carriers on it? Let's go back, there were another couple of bikes in there we could lift'.</p> <p>The whole metadata thing is reasonably sound (though like steveo I've my doubts it's quite as widespread as that, certainly back when my other half was a fiscal the grand majority of thefts were entirely opportunistic); but the thing I've learned is, as mentioned above with the likes of having a complicated couple of locks on your bike, make it 'look' more difficult to break in, or that you have an alarm, or whatever, and they'll move on to an easier target (precisely because most of it is opportunistic). </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400#post-129279 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 11:13:22 +0000 chdot 129279@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"So more police on the local beat"</p> <p>In the past police forces have 'proved' that beat police rarely catch criminals. Deterring crime is harder to prove and the effect of 'community confidence' even harder to 'account' for. </p> <p>I <em>believe</em> that more police on bikes would be unlikely to make things <em>worse</em>... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400#post-129278 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 11:12:54 +0000 kaputnik 129278@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>we pledged to deliver an additional 1,000 police officers into our communities</em></p> <p>Sounds like they were going to wrap them up and stick them in the post. If my experiences of courier deliveries are anything to go buy it's no wonder they don't appear to have materialised. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400#post-129277 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 11:09:59 +0000 Min 129277@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>Strangest comment was someone on Twitter explaining, after posting a link to my photoblog after the event, that posting online about going away places can indicate the house will be empty (only I was out yesterday, Mel was still home)</em></p> <p>You posted on here beforehand and they wouldn't have known she wasn't going with you. </p> <p>Of course we don't know what really happened and they probably are just opportunists but I think the advice not to post too much detail about what you have, where you live and when you are going to be out is sound. And possibly not what all of your anti-theft devices are either? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400#post-129275 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 11:08:00 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 129275@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Some lovely snippets from Kenny's conference speech yesterday:</p> <p>"<em>This year Police Scotland has been established. <strong>Ensuring that we maintain that local presence on the beat</strong>, being abandoned south of the border. Almost as many officers have been lost in England &amp; Wales as serve in Police Scotland. Privatisation, whether in probation services or the Police under way or being considered. Here in Scotland we will not privatise our Police, Fire &amp; Rescue or criminal justice services. Why would we?</em>"</p> <p>"<em>When we came to office in 2007, we pledged to <strong>deliver an additional 1,000 police officers into our communities</strong>. We said a visible police presence deters bad citizens and reassures good citizens. As at June 2013 we had 17,324. The SNP delivering on its manifesto and Police Scotland protecting our communities.</em>"</p> <p>So more police on the local beat, and more police officers into our communities and.... local police stations closing.... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400#post-129274 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 11:07:10 +0000 chdot 129274@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>Can</em> happen (Strava rather than photos) -</p> <p><a href="http://www.adventure-journal.com/2013/03/is-strava-leading-thieves-to-your-bike" rel="nofollow">http://www.adventure-journal.com/2013/03/is-strava-leading-thieves-to-your-bike</a></p> <p><a href="http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/strava-theft" rel="nofollow">http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/strava-theft</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400#post-129273 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 11:02:48 +0000 steveo 129273@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I sincerly doubt WC's bikes were stolen to order or infact many are stolen as a result of location meta data. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400#post-129270 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 10:41:46 +0000 crowriver 129270@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@Snowy, <em>On Android there are apps like this and this to facilitate metadata removal/alteration.</em></p> <p>The easiest thing is not to upload photos of your pride and joy directly from your phone to a public site. </p> <p>Luckily my phone does not seem to store location data in the images it generates from the camera. Anyway as a matter of course before uploading them anywhere I transfer from the phone to my Mac, edit them in Photoshop (enhancing contrast, colour, etc.) then reduce the resolution and 'Save for web/devices". Seems to strip out all the EXIF data. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400#post-129263 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 10:13:16 +0000 crowriver 129263@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@WC, just read this. Bad news. </p> <p>As you say it's not coincidence, it is likely to be the same guys coming back for more 'easy pickings'. Very difficult to cope with if it keeps occurring. </p> <p>These things seem to some in cycles, and it's often just one guy or a small group. There have been spates of thefts from our stair over the past few years, the most serious obviously when they took our bikes. Various mini 'crime waves': eg. a spate of folk kicking in the close door late at night, sometimes taking fittings from bikes, one time leaving a (stolen) car stereo under our bikes (presumably to pick it up later). I have confronted people on a couple of occasions where I caught them in our stair late at night, and chased after them. Silly really, I'm no Charles Bronson. However those particular individuals have not been back.</p> <p>Then there are the one-offs, like a couple of years ago when our downstairs neighbours were burgled during the day. No-one else around to see or hear anything. </p> <p>If we're looking for correlations, I suspect the ongoing recession has more to do with it than policing. Crime used to be much higher in Edinburgh: the economic boom seemed to take the edge off during the zeroes. But now it seems it's coming back. Wheher or not bike theft is becoming more widespread I don't know. When ours were stlen back in 2008 the police said it was happening all 'everywhere'. Alas bike theft is relatively easy, quick, and even supplies a readymade getaway vehicle. No alarms or immpbilisers to bypass like on a car or most modern motorbikes. Bikes are often stored in quiet places, out of sight, allowing the thieves to work undisturbed. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400#post-129260 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 09:54:42 +0000 dg145 129260@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>how we as a community could do our bit (which seemed to be making sure people knew it was bad to steal things</em></p> <p>... A sort of NiceWay Code for Criminals? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400#post-129256 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 09:47:22 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 129256@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>He is, and I've got a letter drafted as, a few days after the first break-in, there was a patronising and spin-laden letter from Kenny (or rather, from one of this staff with his signature attached) about how much is being done to combat crime in the area (at least they recognised it had gone up); about various police 'projects'; and about how we as a community could do our bit (which seemed to be making sure people knew it was bad to steal things - not sure how Duddingston people telling each other it's bad to steal inhibits neds coming in from Niddrie, but there you go). </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400#post-129254 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 09:43:28 +0000 dg145 129254@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@WC Isn't the Justice Secretary your local MSP? Why not drop him a note expressing your frustrations? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11400#post-129251 Mon, 21 Oct 2013 09:38:05 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 129251@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Thing is, what these kids seem to be doing is exactly what happened with my bikes that were nicked - joyriding. They're not selling on, they're nicking bikes, then dumping them when they nick others. The theft round the corner from us was the same - two bikes left outside while they rode off on the newly nicked ones. The neds yesterday had bikes already, so if they'd taken any of the other bikes in there would have had to leave bikes behind.</p> <p>Obviously there are still thefts where bikes are being sold on.</p> <p>And apparently they often find when they raid a house for drugs etc. that there's a room with thirty stolen bikes in it.</p> <p>The police will only link the thefts if they've got evidence that it's the same folk, and without the forensics... Hence the comment above that the police, effectively, can't do anything. Easy to blame the police, but this runs deeper into lack of resources and bureaucracy. But for the 'end user' of their services it's deeply frustrating. </p>