About Bike Theft > DAC Get Smart Quick > DAC Principles
Reducing Anonymity

Reducing anonymity will put unwanted attention upon the criminal, and/or enable them to be linked to the crime.

One of the features of the ‘Bike cuff’ (project at the University of California Berkeley) is that it will release ultraviolet ink if the lock is tampered with.

In fact, this is a secondary security feature designed to deter the offender from interferring with the Bike Cuff whose primary use, like The Club for cars, is as a theft blocker. Intended to be used with another lock, it secures the front wheel of the bike to its frame, and in the process immobilises the steering. The tight adjustable fit was inspired by handcuffs. This reduces space for insertion of lever, pry or cable cutting tools.

Similarly, Michael Lambourn's student project at Central Saint Martins is a cable lock that has cores of compressed air and liquid running through its body. If cut, the liquids spray out over the perpetrator, his tools, the bike and the scene of the crime.