BICYCLE THEFTS IN CITY

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23753, 26 September 1942, Page 4

BICYCLE THEFTS IN CITY

TRADERS EXPRESS CONCERN

PROBLEM OF SPARE PARTS

Concern at the increase in thefts ot bicycles in Christchurch was expressed at a meeting of the North Canterbury Wholesale and Retail Cycle Traders’ Association in Christchurch on Thursday evening, and the need was emphasised lor heavier penalties to be imposed on persons convicted of such thefts. In a statement issued for the association yesterday the president (Mr Charles Bell) said that many members were greatly concerned at the number of bicycles being stolen in the city. The scarcity of tyres and spare parts, he said, was more than likely the cause of the position. Good bicycles were being stolen and robbed of essential parts, in many cases the frame being left. Apparently thieves removed parts of different machines and so reassembled the parts as to disguise the product. Such items as tyres, wheels, pedals, brakes, and seats were being stolen. These were almost unprocurable as replacements for the cycling public—a public which included essential workers, other workers, and young girls and apprentices. For the latter two classes the increasing thefts of bicycle parts were specially serious, as these young people often had to make sacrifices to pay for the bicycles, could not replace parts, and were often without alternative means of transport. The fact that there were 50,000 bicycles in daily use in Christchurch, Mr Bell said, made ' ne problem a very difficult one for the Police Department. The police had done very good work in the past, and it was generally appreciated by the trade that the police had worked to keep down bicycle thefts. The thefts, however, were particularly numerous at 'present. the majority of traders having been confronted with the same problem—people with good bicycles stolen and essential parts of the machines removed.

It was the general feeling of the trade at its meeting that the Police Department should in future push for heavier penalties for this class of offence.

“ALARM” OF LABOUR FEDERATION

MORE DRASTIC PENALTIES SUGGESTED

Alarm at the “decided increase’’ in the theft of bicycles was expressed at the last meeting of the Canterbury Trades and Labour Council of the Federation of Labour. It was decided to request the Minister of Justice to investigate the position with a view to the adoption of more drastic punishment than was imposed for this type of offender. “For the workers of Christchurch, many of whom are engaged in essential work, bicycles are an important factor in transport, and the livelihood of a family may easily be endangered by the theft, contemptible in itself, of a cycle, ’’ says a statement issued by the council. "While believing that .the Courts treat this type of theft far too leniently, the council docs not request that a heavier prison sentence should be imposed.”