Bike theft is a serious issue. Not only do victims lose the value of their bikes — measured both by money and sentimental value — but they also lose their mobility. A bike isn’t a car stereo or Amazon package, it’s a mode of transportation. And if you can’t easily afford a replacement, a stolen bike can be devastating. And even for people who can afford a replacement, the hassle required to go bike shopping is sometimes enough that people don’t bother. And that’s not a good outcome either.

It’s also very difficult to catch bike thieves, especially since the item they just stole happens to be a great way to get away. So it makes some sense that departments would want to find ways to deter bike theft by making bike theft seem more risky. What if some percentage of bikes were tracked by police, and it was impossible to tell which ones they were? Would that make potential thieves think twice about stealing one? That’s the basic idea behind “bait bikes.”

However, there’s a point where theft deterrence becomes victimization of poor people, and Denny Westneat at the Seattle Times recently wrote about a troubling case in which the jury sided with the accused:

Back in the summer of 2018, [Jolene] Paris was hanging around near a Goodwill outlet store, on Sixth Avenue South in Sodo. It’s a regular gathering spot for the homeless and the near-homeless, as it’s a liquidation center where they offer stuff in bulk that didn’t sell at a regular Goodwill. (“Shoes — $1.19 per pound. All sales final.”)

Paris noticed a silver road bicycle, an old Sirrus Pro model, leaning against a tree in the dirt near some shrubs. According to her testimony, she thought it odd someone had left a bike there, unlocked and unattended, in this high-crime neighborhood. So she started wheeling it around the Goodwill parking lot, asking if it belonged to anyone.

It did belong to someone – the Seattle Police Department.

The police basically argued that it wasn’t her bike, but she took it. Therefore she should be guilty of theft (it was a misdemeanor charge because the bike was valued below the threshold for a felony). But context is everything, and the bike in the dirt near a Goodwill (where people get rid of things they don’t want) and was not locked. So how serious really was the crime they caught here? Was there room for someone to reasonably believe the bike had been abandoned? The jury thought so. (more…)