Re: [TheThinkTank] bike thieves in the shop?

-- Sincerely, Jonathan Morrison Executive Director Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective 2312 S. West Temple Salt Lake City, UT 84115 w: 801-328-2453 c: 801-688-0183 f: 801-466-3856 www.slcbikecollective.org Get Addicted to Crank! http://www.slcbikecollective.org/crank/ The mission of the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective is to promote cycling as an effective and sustainable form of transportation and as a cornerstone of a cleaner, healthier, and safer society. The Bicycle Collective provides refurbished bicycles and educational programs to the community, focusing on children and lower income households. On Sun, Jun 15, 2008 at 12:15 PM, Sherief sgaber@gmail.com wrote: > At the Yellowbike here in Austin we just had two pretty awful incidences > with theft, and we've talked a lot about what approach we should take. The > first one involved a Katrina evacuee who had gotten a bike from us and then > took to volunteering upon occasion. We had been allowing him to work on and > take kids' bikes every now and again for family members, but at some point > this just turned to him stealing bikes off of our completed rack. We > noticed this when he tried to sell a brand new donation bike for 25 dollars > to a kid during a shop, and then rode off on a refurbed bike later that > night. > > With this kind of theft, we tell the thief that they are banned from the > shop, but allow them to come before our collective and have a discussion > with us. Oftentimes just seeing the fact that we are an all volunteer > collective and talking with the group changes the person's attitude about > their actions and they can be allowed back in. Generally, however, thieves > won't make the effort to come back and talk to us so they stay banned, which > is at that point I feel totally justified. > > On a sadder note more recently, we had two teenage community service > volunteers steal our shop computer during a busy open shop, and in the > process of running off they coaxed one of our coordinator's dogs across a > busy street where noble Argos was hit and killed by a car. As one might > imagine this caused a lot of busy soul searching-- mostly around the > question of balancing having a secure and safe shop environment while > maintaining a shop that's totally inclusive to the community. We realized > that oftentimes the mistake is on partially ours, that even the surliest > teenagers who might come into the shop can get involved productively and > meaningfully. When we put these kids to work immediately and make sure that > they've got tasks and aren't just hanging around wrenching or loitering, > they'll often see the fact that we're a real organization and not just some > weak charity. If they don't want to get involved at that point then we ask > them to leave. > > I think the point of this is that opening one's arms to the community is > one thing but there's a thin line between real inclusiveness and the kind of > guilt-based, "charitable" inclusion that leads to the exploitation of the > shop. > > -sherief > > On Sun, Jun 15, 2008 at 12:57 PM, veganboyjosh@gmail.com wrote: > >> I'd like to throw something out to the group for your opinions. >> >> Do any of you have a specific policy about what to do when a known bike >> thief comes in the shop? Do you turn him/her away? >> >> Last year, we had an incident with a youth EAB'er, who was caught taking >> bikes. He's since been implicated but not charged or confirmed as being >> involved in another bike theft, altho that one is not related to our shop, >> other than we're friends with the victim, and used some of our resources >> with a local low-income neighborhood to track down the location of this >> latest theft, leading to the recovery of said stolen bikes. >> >> Since this last incident, the individual was spotted in our shop by a >> staff member who was around during last year's debacle. Someone swiftly took >> him aside, and told him that he needs to leave, that he's not welcome in our >> shop. >> >> I'm not sure how i personally feel about this. I mean, bike thieves are >> pretty low, and as such I don't want to encourage them...teaching them >> wrenching skills that they will potentially use on stolen bikes makes my >> stomach turn... >> >> Being the community shop that we are, i'm wondering if we can't use our >> position to turn some of these kids around. By bringing him in and welcoming >> him, do we not stand a chance of befriending him and breaking down the >> barrier between us, so that he comes to value our bikes (shop's and staff's, >> and by extension, the general public) by being exposed to what bikes mean to >> the people in our shop. in theory, come to see the shop as a resource for >> knowledge, skills, and cheap parts that takes some investment on his part, >> instead of just a pool of resources for him to pilfer on a whim. >> >> I'm interested in the groups thoughts, policies, experiences. >> >> I also know that bike theft is something that hits close to home for a lot >> (or all) of us on this list, and would ask that we keep this discussion on >> the topic of "to welcome or not in the shop", and not get too distracted >> with how painfully bike thieves should be tortured. >> >> Thanks. >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Thethinktank mailing list >> Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org >> >> http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o... >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > Thethinktank mailing list > Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org > > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o... > >