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Are London cyclists more likely to report a theft?

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Last week Going Going Bike reported that bike crime costs British cyclists £80m a year. Word spread across the cycling community, but the focus has shifted solidly away from money matters.

The below Wordle shows the top 20 words used by the media to report this news, and demonstrates an interest in places, but also in the role of the police.

While Thames Valley and Cambridgeshire fared badly, coming second and fourth highest for UK bike theft, over 20,000 bikes were reported as stolen to the Metropolitan Police last year.

Such stark figures do not bode well for the Cycle Task Force, celebrating its first birthday this month as the capital’s dedicated bike crimestoppers.

But as the above graphic shows, the reliability of the data release has been questioned, as unreported thefts are not estimated.

Could it be that far from being a failure, the CTF have transformed attitudes towards bike theft, resulting in more Londoners reporting the crime?

See also

Cycle Task Force introduce harsh punishments for bike thieves

How I lock my bike

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