All things cycling-related in the Boise, Idaho area.
Bike locking & safety
I accidentally met Detective Jeff Dustin today (under good circumstances, fortunately!). He deals a lot with recoving stolen bikes and prosecuting bike thieves, and we shared a frustration about the poor manner in which many cyclists lock their bikes. He would like to help develop some promotional and educational items to help people learn to be wiser about locking up their bikes, and he would also like to local cycling advocacy groups about helping push for more prosecutorial action against bike thieves. He said at present, judges are fairly tepid in their concern for bike theft crimes, as they are considered very low-priority. As Detective Dustin said, if we could help judges understand that for some of us, bikes are far more than mere toys, but rather tools of practical daily use, they may get a bit firmer with their legal actions.
Is anyone interested in pursuing this with me? I will be taking it up with the TVCA, but wonder if representatives from other local cycling groups might want to team up. If so, contact me here or at huzzah@danielo.org.
Is anyone interested in pursuing this with me? I will be taking it up with the TVCA, but wonder if representatives from other local cycling groups might want to team up. If so, contact me here or at huzzah@danielo.org.
Comment
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Comment by danielo on March 9, 2009 at 10:10am - I happened across Detective Dustin again today and we chatted for a couple of minutes. He recently secured a felony warrant against a dude in town who has stolen 39+ bikes. He also mentioned that he has a tracking device, and is looking for a bike to be donated that he can plant as bait, with the tracking device, to catch more thieves. The catch is that for a felony arrest, the bike's value must be $1000+. He said often it's insurance companies that donate for such things. In any case, if anyone knows of an entity that might want to donate a bike, let me know, and I can forward you Dustin's contact info.
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Comment by walt on January 6, 2009 at 9:48pm - Good deal. We've been looking for an in to the BPD and this would be a great start. Let's talk on Friday and see how we take him up on his offer.
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Comment by Kai Applequist on January 6, 2009 at 9:27am
- I have posted a bike lock advisory on my blog and in the editorial section of the Idaho Statesman about how people need to buy u-locks instead of cable locks for their bikes, and about how easy it really is to steal a bike. Let me know what I can do to help you out.
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