About Bike Theft >The Problem >
Theft Techniques

Bicycles can be stolen in various ways. The phrase ‘perpetrator technique’ is primarily used by law enforcement officers and crime prevention professionals to describe the methods used by offenders to commit crime, in this instance to steal bicycles. The perpetrator technique used is often linked to the locking practice of the cyclist (i.e. the type of lock used and the way it is applied), for example where the bike is unlocked or poorly secured then little skill is required to remove it.

Some common perpetrator techniques used to steal locked bikes are described here. These can also be viewed in the animation Know the Enemy (2006) which suggests that in order to win the battle against bike thieves, it is important to understand the tools and techniques for bicycle theft commission, which can usefully inform preventive action and the Design Against Crime process.