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Second hand bike shop idea catches thieves out

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Cambridge is one of the most popular cities for cycling in the UK with above average participation figures. Being a mecca for cycling does however mean bike theft is also a problem.

Cambridgeshire Police have recognised this problem and in the last year have been running undercover sting operations and other campaigns to catch bike thieves.

Officers believe the initiatives have been successful with their own 2011 figures showing that bike thefts in the city dropped a quarter on 2010 (2,870 thefts in 2010, 2,146 thefts in 2011).

Police set up shop

One of the innovative ways the Police used to trap criminals was by opening a second hand bike shop themselves and manned by undercover police officers. The shop, Wardy’s Wheels on Arbury Road in the city, managed to recover 500 stolen items while it remained open, Cambridgeshire Police told us.

Police also said 62 thieves were convicted for bike related crime as a result of activities at the shop while there were further arrests and convictions for other crimes from information gleaned by undercover officers working in the shop.

Given the resources and manpower time put into operating a second hand shop, the return in terms of bikes recovered and thieves prosecuted is healthy.

Dedicated bicycle crime unit

Cambridgeshire Police have had a dedicated city centre bike unit running for a number of years and employ a number of tactics to catch bike thieves, including using “trap” bikes fitted with GPS tracking systems.


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