IN DEPTH: Has the tide just turned on bike theft?
Bike thieves have had a great run. Actually, the crime statistics published by most police forces have shown it’s been a near-perfect run. In the vast majority of cases, bike theft reports will return a ‘case closed’ verdict within 24 hours of being reported in many parts of the country. A handful of high-profile thefts have illustrated how far down the priority list bike recovery has fallen.
Remember when the BBC Economics Editor Faisal Islam told the MET Police he had the GPS coordinates of his stolen bike, but could not get the force to attend and investigate? That has become the norm as stretched resources pull police away from what may be considered less serious crimes and onto more pressing matters.
If you remember at the time of Faisal Islam’s social media complaint, The Telegraph newspaper shortly afterwards followed with a scan of national data in which it was revealed that a whopping 87% of UK neighbourhoods did not see a single resolved bike theft claim. In that same piece, the newspaper calculated a national average of just a 1.4% chance of a suspect ever being identified when bike crime was reported. Ultimately, that means that convictions are blindingly rare.
Fast forward to the present day and bike theft data is quite thin on the ground, but we’re now at a junction, according to stolen-bike.co.uk, where 71% of people don’t even report bike crime to the police. Of those that do, they help us build up the insight that 77,313 bikes are stolen on average in the UK every year, or so the Office for National Statistics says. This roughly works out to a new bike stolen every seven minutes in England and Wales, or, if you account for unreported thefts, possibly less than half that timeline.
Little wonder, then, that one private security start-up spotted an opportunity to buck a dire trend. For those who have not yet encountered BackPedal, they are a team of private recovery experts with a central data centre and a team of hired hands, often security or police professionals, who will do the dirty work of attempting to recover a bike, aided by the marvel that is GPS technology. Needless to say, they’ve made a lot more progress since eBikes really took off and claim an above 80% success rate on account of the tracking technologies they deploy.
Anyhow, you’re only as successful as the law allows you to be and sometimes even BackPedal have to give up on a lead. That, however, might be subject to change, or at least their cooperation with the police may be about to become a whole lot more effective.
Though it has its controversial elements there is a clause in the Crime and Policing Bill that is very likely to have a positive impact on the police’s ability to act on bike theft if the location of the vehicle is beyond doubt. Here’s the detail:
Clause 12 of the Crime and Policing Bill
“Create a new targeted power for the police to enter premises to search for and seize electronically tracked stolen goods, ranging from mobile phones to stolen vehicles and agricultural machinery, and expansion of the lawful purposes by which law enforcement agencies can access the DVLA driver licence records.”
For James Dunn, the Founder of BackPedal, this is reason for optimism that in the years to come the tide can be turned on bike theft after decades of dwindling success. With the bike industry’s buy-in, his firm is building the foundations of a tracking, recovery and insurance product that could finally give peace of mind to consumers. After all, time and time again, in survey after survey, consumers have cited bike theft as a top three reason for not cycling, often behind safety concerns and the British weather.
So James, how do you currently operate within the frameworks of the law?
We follow a common-sense approach and always stay within the law. Most of what we do—like tracing a stolen bike to a specific area, knocking on doors, or checking gardens, is completely legal, provided we respect privacy laws. For instance, you can’t continue observing a private garden if a family is using it, but most are empty when we check.
We don’t trespass on or search properties without consent. However, if we have a GPS or Bluetooth signal confirming a bike’s location, we believe it’s reasonable to investigate further. There are clear boundaries. For example, we never use force or intimidation. People often ask if we confront thieves, but that’s neither ethical nor legal. The person with the bike might not be the thief; they could’ve bought it unknowingly.
Ultimately, our approach is proactive and grounded in legality and reason. Given the scale and impact of bike theft, we believe a practical, rights respecting approach is necessary.
What limitations exist in your work, and how does this proposed law change help your odds of recovery?
Our biggest limitation has been the lack of police response, even when we know a stolen bike is in a specific location. Using proximity beacon technology, we often have 95–99% certainty that a bike is in a given location. Most of the time, a simple conversation with the residents at the property resolves the issue. But in about 10 to 20% of cases, the bike isn’t returned, and we need police assistance.
Too often, police have so far declined to help, citing the need for a warrant. But legally, a warrant isn’t always required if there are reasonable grounds, such as a clear GPS and Bluetooth data signal showing the bike is there. The new law change will help clarify this and should encourage officers to act more often.
This might not dramatically improve our recovery rate, we do already revisit properties multiple times, four or five times sometimes, but it will speed things up on average. Instead of waiting weeks, we’ll be able to resolve cases more efficiently, likely nudging our recovery rate from around 80% to perhaps 82–85%.
You are now working directly with bike brands to ensure eBikes are secure from checkout. Why is this an important step?
Yes, we’ve just launched a partnership with Estarli, and there is strong demand for this. Mid-to-premium tier eBikes, especially those used by commuters and families, are major targets for theft. Cargo bikes in particular seem to be prominent targets. For many, a stolen bike means missing work or not being able to take kids to school. Insurance may cover some costs, but not the disruption to people’s lives.
Bike brands tend to understand that theft concerns affect sales. Customers want assurance that their investment is protected. By integrating recovery tech at the point of sale, we are helping reduce that anxiety and protect their mobility.
What trends have you noticed lately when recovering stolen bikes?
The main trends remain consistent: opportunistic theft due to poor or no locking is a primary cause for bikes going missing. One notable trend is a rise in battery theft. Batteries are easy to remove, conceal, transport, and resell, plus often they are worth anything
between £500 to £1,000. This potentially carries fresh dangers for consumers.
So, we’ve recently begun recovering stolen batteries for clients. Trackers allow us to act quickly and confront sellers with clear evidence. This has proven successful and will likely become a bigger part of our recovery work, especially as more batteries are fitted with trackers.
You now have a link with insurance when subscribing to the BackPedal service. How does this benefit the customer?
Yes, for the past 18 months we’ve partnered with Sunday’s Insurance, one of the UK’s leading bike insurers. The process is simple: we always try to recover the stolen bike first, no matter the circumstances. If we’re unable to recover it, customers can claim through the insurance.
This gives users peace of mind, knowing there’s a dedicated recovery effort before any insurance process begins.
How’s business developed in the past 18 months and what are your future plans?
Business has grown strongly. We’re featured in an upcoming BBC TV series, similar to Motorway Cops, with 15 episodes following our recovery efforts. That should air soon.
Bike theft is a massive issue across the UK. As more people rely on bikes for daily life, the demand for theft recovery services continues to rise. People recognise that police often lack the resources to respond effectively. We’re stepping in to fill that gap.
Ultimately, we can’t just rely on insurance to fight theft, we need tools and services that actively recover bikes and deter thieves.
Have you any good theft recovery stories from recent jobs?
Yes. We had one notable example involving using our drone technology. We were tracking a stolen Cowboy electric bike in a high-rise block, but couldn’t pinpoint the flat. So, we launched a drone to scan the building. It spotted the bike on a balcony. That allowed us to identify the exact unit. We then knocked on the door and recovered the bike. The resident claimed they’d bought it, but we had clear evidence it was stolen. The full story is on our Instagram with the footage of the recovery.
Drones are now part of our team’s recovery toolkit. They give us better visibility and increase our chances of success, especially in difficult or dense urban locations.
