[zelos]

That's a good idea, although this:

"He reported both to the police, but the cases went nowhere, an experience common enough that many workers have concluded calling 911 is a waste of time."

Is so frustrating. The theft of thousands of dollars worth of equipment with the threat of violence in a known location and the police aren't interested?

[pjc50]

Yes? Especially if it's a bike. Police are incredibly bad at handling low-level property crime.

[null_object]

> Police are incredibly bad at handling low-level property crime.

These are somehow strange and inexplicable societal values concerning crime.

A cycle blog here in Sweden recently had an article on several really simple measures that could be taken to help curtail bike theft (which is epidemic) but neither the police, insurance companies or reselling sites were interested in their suggestions. Bikes can be worth the equivalent of thousands of dollars.

Last week I was walking into a grocery store when 4 police were arresting a guy who looked very dejected, and I asked an assistant what had happened she said he was caught stealing a piece of meat.

[pjc50]

> societal values concerning crime.

Police do not necessarily reflect the values of wider society, they may have their own values. Ranging from anti-cyclist prejudice to simple workplace laziness - I suspect the grocery guy was caught by staff and all they had to do was take him away.

[zelos]

It's hardly low-level property crime:

"...food-delivery workers returning home after their shifts have been violently attacked there for their bikes: by gunmen pulling up on motorcycles, by knife-wielding thieves leaping from the recesses..."

Those are crimes that carry multi-year prison sentences.

[eru]

Not in all jurisdictions.

My adopted home of Singapore seems to handle this really well.

There's always stories of people leaving there wallets and phones to reserve tables at the food court. Without any issue.

[refurb]

Having spent time in Singapore, plenty of crime never makes the news. Talk to some of the folks who do their National Service with the SPF.

But yes, it’s definitely a low crime jurisdiction but I don’t think enforcement has that much to do with it.

[eru]

Yes, I can't tell how much is enforcement and how much is a more law abiding population.

[sokoloff]

Police are incredibly bad at handling auto-theft level of property crime.

It seems like the root issue isn’t the catching but the recatching. If you want to nearly eliminate it, punish it like Singapore does. I don’t think we have the will to do that (in fact, seem to be heading in the opposite direction), so police will continue to catch the heat for how much property crime continues to happen.

[jakelazaroff]

Police exist to protect capital, not labor. The system is working as intended.

[jameshart]

A three thousand dollar electric bike that enables someone to carry out a valuable service is the very definition of ‘capital’.

[modo_mario]

Not him but i'm pretty sure that's not what he or anyone making that reference means in this scenario.

Owning a bike or a car doesn't net one the relevant power of what one refers to when one says capital in this scenario. For example the NYPD mentioned gets millions in donations and i can assure you those don't come from gig workers who feel like they need more protection from them.

[CryptoPunk]

The crime described in the article hurts capital too. Many companies have to leave markets due to the costs imposed by the described criminality. This bifurcation betweem labor and capital is an invention of socialists/unions, to draw attention away from the exploitation that they demand.

[jakelazaroff]

That hypothesis is belied by the fact that these companies allocate approximately zero of their considerable lobbying resources to fixing the issue.

[CryptoPunk]

Have you ever attended a local government hearing in a large city? It's filled with people on the dole, affiliated with a network of taxpayer subsidized nonprofits and social agencies, all promoting far-left ideological platitudes that the local politicians parrot for their own survival. There is no chance these companies could outlobby the forces against them. Basic policing in general is virulently opposed within these circles, I hypothesize because it precludes the alternative 'solution': more social spending, ostensibly aimed at solving the "root causes" of crime, but really designed to fill the pockets of Poverty Inc.

I think as a lobbying force to counter these destructive special interests, the best chance we have is property owners. If they organize at a larger scale, they could potentially fund their own army of local lobbyists capable of matching those of the beneficiaries of the tax payer funded social programs. Home Owners Associations already have some organization, and if they pool their funds together, could be a political force to reckon with.

[mst]

Notice that there was also a part in the article where the police simply didn't understand the bikes were that expensive, and educating an officer on that changed their attitude.

Frustrating, still, but improvement seems at least possible.

[jake_morrison]

Too busy arresting people for victimless crimes like smoking pot.