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Bikes are being stolen from a bike rack near Alma Street alongside the Menlo Park Library in the Civic Center. A sign posted at the rack warns the public of the thefts.
“MP police are alerted to these thefts,” the sign says.
The thefts are brazen, said an observer, “considering the high visibility and proximity of the police department.”
Could somebody add some more useful information please. How many? Over what time? Were they locked or just sitting there?
The reports from the Menlo Park Police Department listed one bike locked to the bike rack and one unlocked.
http://almanacnews.com/news/2014/04/23/portola-valley-15000-pearl-necklace-stolen-from-jewelry-box
The thefts occurred over two or three days in mid-April.
How about aiming a video camera at the bike rack so the thieves can be identified? If they are breaking locks, they are probably professional thieves that deserve hard time.
This is a chronic problem as my son’s bike was stolen last spring when he volunteered for a 2 hour period in broad daylight. The lock was sturdy, but cut with a strong device. The expensive helmet remained behind. Ironically this day the police officers were right instead the library tending to a disturbance as their cruiser was in the circle drive.
Three things:
Protect your bike. Cable locks are useless. Use the smallest U-bolt lock that will hold your bike to the rack.
Protect your wheels. Use a security skewer or at least a hex skewer, not a QR.
Stolen bikes are a great way to track down real criminals. Menlo Park PD would likely find that bait bikes with good tracking are very much worth the time / effort / cost.
Cable locks are not useless, but they are easier to cut than U locks. U locks don’t work with some racks, in which case a cable lock is better than nothing. The best solution is to use both. Then a thief will need to use two different tools and take time to cut both locks. Most will choose to go elsewhere instead.
Cable locks are almost useless. They can be cut with tiny pocket tools. If a U-lock doesn’t work at your favorite bike rack, a hardened steel chain lock is 1000 times safer than a cable lock.
Cable locks can be cut with “tiny pocket tools”????? There are lots of different cable locks, and some are easier to cut than others. It would take a lot more than tiny pocket tools to cut a Kryptonite 3/8″ cable lock like this one http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1030849_-1_400014__400014
They are easier to cut than a U lock, but saying they can be cut with tiny pocket tools is a serious distortion of the truth.
How about the bike racks at the library get moved closer to the library entrance? There seems to be plenty room and a lot of people walk by there and it’s visible from inside the library.
@Bert – a 3/8″ cable lock is not a serious lock. A thief can cut it with a cheap, pocket-sized pair of wire cutters or tin snips. Maybe not in 2 seconds, but easily in a couple of minutes. The fundamental design of cable locks means you only have to squeeze the wire cutters hard enough to cut one strand of the cable at a time, then squeeze again to cut another strand. Doesn’t take very many squeezes to snip through 3/8″. Further, cable locks are never made from quality hardened steel, like can find on mid-range chain locks or U-locks. Hardened steel locks usually require large professional bike thief tools to break, not the amateur pocket tools used to snip cable locks.