With the Boris Bike scheme (more correctly known as Barclays Cycle Hire) about to celebrate its first birthday the wiff-waff meister Lord Mayor of London has a double reason to celebrate with the announcement that the anti-bike-theft squad he established in tandem – so to speak – also seems to have been an outstanding success. The Cycle Task Force, a 40-strong squad of dedicated officers, has overseen a fairly dramatic 3% reduction in the number of thefts in the capital, despite increasing numbers taking to the saddle across London. The squad, funded via the £116million Transport for London cycling budget, have declared that 75% of arrests have resulted in either a warning, fine or jail sentence. Additionally 12,000 bikes have been security marked by the squad and more than 6,000 people met and briefed at events on the dangers posed to cyclists by the Capital’s lorries.
Although the 3% reduction in thefts (which represents around 700 less stolen bikes) is impressive, there was still a staggering 22,536 cases in London in the 12 moths to May 31, which equates to approximately 10% of reported thefts in the UK. Westminster had the highest incident rate at 1,788, followed by Islington at 1,565 and Hackney with 1,518. The London Borough of Bexley, in the South East, is celebrating the fewest thefts across the Capital with a mere 124.However, according to a recent British Crime Survey an almost unbelievable 80% of owners fail to report their bikes stolen. Cyclo will leave you to do your own maths on the true state of larceny in Bexley…
Image © Transport for London 2005
