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We are all used to seeing 'STOLEN- xyz' threads popping up every other day where someone's pride and joy has been robbed in one way or another.
Very few make their way back to the original owner, but some occasionally do.
The details are vague, but apparently 'someone' became aware of the whereabouts of a friends bike that was stolen several years ago.
Once the bike was positively id'd by the original owner/theft victim it was 'released' back in to their possession.
The police were not involved because they have proven to be utterly useless twice before in similar circumstances despite overwhelming proof of ownership.
I got mine back too.
courtesy of an observant friend on ebay & the police came up good for me as they recovered it from the seller.
Insurance (M&S) then just said I could keep it despite having paid up to me a year before.
My mate has just been called up for court as his bike was nicked, and they caught the carnt, but no bike back yet. The wpc he spoke to reckoned your best bet getting a stolen bike back ain't gumtree or eBay, but the local Sunday market, ours is at a local racecourse. Makes sense I suppose, out of the limelight of the Internet search.
I got mine back, i was so angry that they had smashed the back window of my car to get it (in broad daylight with loads of people about, I had left it for 10 mins as I get kids and shopping in the hous). So I took the next day off work, printed up some reward posters and ran all around the (less than pleasant) estate I live in putting them up.
After I ran out of posters I wandered about looking for a bag they had also taken with tools and a lock in it. As I came out of an alleyway and looked to my right I saw a lad of about 6' sat of my bike facing away from me 50yds down the road.
I did a quick risk assessment and thought hes a lot younger than me and bigger than me - but no where near as pissed off as I was. So I ran and grabbed the seat post stays really hard. Luckily he jumped off and didnt try and get it from me
After a few minutes ranting at I rode off with my bike - very shaky from the adreneline rush
The police were gobsmacked when I said id recovered it
When my bike got nicked and recovered by me (police involved) it took longer and was harder to get the bloody thing back from the police then the thieves themselves!
police are shit
They were a bit rubbish - even when I could identify who it was that had it they did nothing as they couldnt prove it was him who stole it, even though another witness had told them they saw him do it on the day it was taken.
The Police are demoralised and lazy. If all coppers were as good as that South Afrcan "Robocop" bloke there would be no crime at all.
...well no street crime anyway because beat bobbies wouldn't be nicking politicians.
I had a bike nicked from Bath College many years ago. About 12 months after the incident I had a call from the cops to say that they had arrested someone and thought they had found my bike!
I went down the station and there it was. It had orange handlebars but they had wrapped black tape around them in an attempt to hide them!!
A mate had 3 bikes stolen not long ago. I posted on here and an STWer saw them on ebay and alerted me. The bikes were recovered with the assistance of police.
* stolen bikes can be recovered
* always report the crime, if nothing else it feeds the stats and raises the profile of the kind of crime
* the police will usually do what they can, helping them makes a difference. They took the crime seriously.
It's not reasonable to expect a police office to be up to speed on the myriad of component options that make your bike unique, but they need to be reasonably sure in order to seize the bike back from the perp. Frames numbes are a good start, anything unique like stickers, then photos.
Don't be cynical, it can work out more or less satisfactorily.
Lots more heartwarming recovery stories here, some without the aid of the police, but many with:
http://www.stolenbristolbikes.com/search/label/Recovered
Despite the inevitable "my bike got nicked and the police were useless" stories, they'd still be my first port of call as
1) They're trained and paid to deal with scumbags; you and your mates aren't, and
2) If you retrieve your bike without involving the police, any chance of the thief being charged and punished goes out of the window.
"..he was younger than me and bigger than me - but no where near as pissed off"
GOOD MAN!
dave360Â -Â Member"..he was younger than me and bigger than me - but no where near as pissed off"GOOD MAN!
Or rather "good woman" - the clue is in my name 🙂
Pics please adjustablewench as proof of gender !!! 
There's a pic in the pics thread - looking rather mrs green on there to be fair!
A copper posted on here the other day, apparently their failure to tackle bike theft is down to cuts. Oh how I wish we could return to the good old days when they used to target bike thieves...
Police are not shit,the criminal justice system is! A crime is a crime and I am paid to prevent and detect crime amongst other things. If I gather enough evidence to charge someone or go to the crown prosecution service with, I will. What cps and the courts do after that is completely out of my control. How about supporting the service which, in most circumstances, does it's best to help victims of crime? Now that would make a pleasant change, wouldn't it?
The failure to tackle bike theft is probably not just down to cuts alone, it is more probable that the officer who made the comment meant that it is harder to invest time into individual crimes when our workload has gone up, as a result of cuts to other departments.
And yes, I am a Police Officer, I am not shit, I do what I can with what I have.
@thorpie I wasn't randomly police bashing in my op, just expressing my own direct experience relating to stolen bikes.
I know you have a very tough job and limited resources which have to be prioritised often depending on which way the political wind is blowing.
For balance on one occasion I was at a busy local railway station and saw someone on a nicked bike. The transport police were there quickly and nIcked the bloke and the bike was returned to the owner in the end. This IME is not the norm so sometimes you need to go it alone.
It was more the comment from anus (appropriate user name?), 'the police are shit'. Huge generalisation and simply not true, where would the country be without a police service? That said this government seems determined to find out!