CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 16years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
not resolvedPublic Service Announcement
I was told by a knowledgeable person that under the re-organization into Police Scotland, the police is no longer doing 'prevention' (it's been renamed). So Bike marking will cease. Police who then marked my bike confirmed this. Apparently they have a few more events planned then kaput.
What happened to 'Prevention is better than Cure'??
dangled story in front of EEN reporter...hoping he bites :)
Is bike marking 'prevention'? It doesn't really stop the bike getting nicked, but can certainly help in retrieving it.
Well one would hope theives see the marked sticker and think twice? I prefer the F**k off HUGE chain method of crime prevention, but did take advantage of the free Bike Marking at Leith last year.
I never saw the point of the marking sticker. I watched people have theirs done this morning at the BBR. Would thieves not simply have to peel it off?
It's not just a sticker, there's also a hidden code.
"BikeRegister is used by every UK Police Force."
I guess I wasn't watching very closely then! Oh well, I guess it is better than the DIY UV pen and writing down the serial number approach. I wonder how long the police will keep a record of the bikes they have marked for if they are stopping doing it though.
In the grand scheme of things I'd prefer Police Scotland to concentrate on things such as using the full extent of their powers to make roads safer places for all.
You can pay to have your bike marked if it gives you peace of mind, or you can take details of serial numbers and give them to your insurance company.
If your bike is as expensive or irreplacable as to require special marking, you're likely to be savvy enough to have extra insurance for it and/or stump up to have it marked for less than the cost of a decent lock.
A serial number can be ground off a frame - but what's to stop security markers also being located and removed (particularly when people put a sticker on the bike advertising its presence!). Frankly I'm sceptical about the Bikeregister thing - it doesn't offer any evidence about how your bike is less likely to be stolen if it's marked. I think it's a case of more likley to be recovered and re-united with you. Or is it that people who go to the trouble of getting their bike marked are also more likley to go to the trouble of trying to recover it? I certainly don't see that they've tested that hypothesis amongst the website blurb. £11 for a sticker for your bike frame sounds like a bit of a get-rich-qucik scam to me.
K'nik - I;m willing to be convinced by arguments that it doesn't do much to deter crime or help it be solved, and is thus not cost-effective but I'd like to know what they say they will replace it with.
every community council meeitng i've been to, the police say that bike crime is either the biggest incidence of crime in our neighbourhood, or second to housebreaking (which the newly re-organised Police Scotland is doing such a great job of solving that their rates are half what they were last year)
but I'd like to know what they say they will replace it with
Perhaps nothing? As it stands it would seem that the Police are simply subsidising marking and additions to the bike register (which is a private company). I'm sure they'll still recommend that individuals think about joining the scheme if they are worried about their bike. Would we also expect the Police to give out good quality locks to people for free rather than just recommend they do it?
"Would we also expect the Police to give out good quality locks to people for free rather than just recommend they do it?"
they sell them at a not for profit price I believe?
Incidentally, i was speaking with a friendly rozzer just the other day, and she said that they have a box of gold standard Abus locks at the front desk at St Leonards, going for £15 each.
Don't need one myself, but that's a bargain for anyone who does..
Bike marked at bike breakfast this morning, all good, slight issue when I tried to take the pen off the PC before she was ready to give it to me. No mention of this ending but if so, I have it now
I've never quite understood how it is ever the police's job to look after people's property for them. I can kind of see the public good argument in a general police presence and the general deterrence effect of wandering bobbies but committing officers' time and other resources to putting markings on people's bikes so that they might get it back if somebody nicks it? Nah. Look after your own stuff.
Having said that, if they're giving it away, I do believe you'd be foolish not to take it. I wouldn't criticise anyone who did.
The NHS and fire brigade have similar approaches. Is the idea to spend a little on prevention to reduce the costs later?
You must log in to post.
Cycling in Edinburgh Flickr group
Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin
posts