Want your bike theft investigated? That will be £105 please

**Bob** · 11th May 2007, 00:29

UK Police will not conduct fingerprint or DNA tests to find who might have stolen a motorcycle… unless the victim pays for the privilege.

The new charges, which start at £105 have been introduced by the Home Office, have to be paid to whichever private company is in charge of recovering and storing stolen vehicles in your area. Owners will be given little choice – pay up if you want the case taken further, or try to find the thief yourself.

Storage already has to be paid for. When Glenn Burrows from Norwich had his 125cc Wu Yang bike stolen, he was delighted to hear it had been recovered by police less than a mile away. However, due to the Bank Holiday he was unable to recover the bike immediately. He said: “Because of the bank holiday I wasn't able to recover it until Tuesday, by which time I owed £150. I feel like I'm paying the police to do their job and I thought I was already doing that through my taxes.”

Norwich North MP Ian Gibson has attacked the charge, saying “If I had a vehicle stolen through no fault of my own and was then asked to pay for it to be investigated, I would be pretty angry. The police are always complaining that they are hard up, but this suggests they are now going down the road of privatisation. What's next? Will we have to pay for officers to attend a house burglary?”

Stephen Bett, chairman of Norfolk Police Authority, said: “If this has been foisted upon us by the Home Office, there is very little we can do - but I can understand why people are peeved by it. The fact is the Home Office is constantly trying to find methods to raise funds and this is just the latest attempt.”

**Karma** · 11th May 2007, 00:41

Originally Posted by Bob

The fact is the Home Office is constantly trying to find methods to raise funds and this is just the latest attempt.”

Here's an idea, lower the dole so that it only affords you the basics. There were people I knew on the dole back in the UK who lived better than I did earning a wage.

Oh, and no claiming ANY benefits for at least 1 year after you enter the country... you wanna be a refugee, fine... but go out and earn a fucking wage!

**Toaster** · 3rd June 2007, 21:15

Bloody hell, don't tell Cullen - he would see it as yet another avenue to raise govt revenue.

**Grahameeboy** · 3rd June 2007, 21:29

Lets put this in perspective guys.

Your pride and joy has been stolen
You may not get what you think the bike is worth from the Insurance, it may be on finance so you may get bugger all and will have to deposit another finance agreement to buy another bike.
Your pride and joy is recovered. You have to pay recovery and storage but your excess is higher so cheaper option and you have your bike back.
If there is damage it will be covered by Insurance plus the recovery / storage costs.
The DNA test is a no brainer anyway as no one is goling to be bothered other than the Insurance so their choice.
The Police use contractors to store vehicles. It is the contractoer being paid not the Police.............
Is this really an issue............have we forgotten that the POLICE recovered your pride and joy.......
Geeze what a load of moaners we are at times.................always looking for the negative angle

**Karma** · 3rd June 2007, 21:38

Ok then, I'll pay the money to get the bike back, but I'm pretty sure that recovery of stolen propery is part of the police charter, and therefore something they are paid for by the government, who in turn are paid for by taxes.

Sounds to me like the cops aren't getting enough from government (been happening for years) and so are passing the charge onto your average joe, thereby being forced to pay the charge twice.

Perhaps rather than saying what a bunch of moaners people are you could see the root cause of the problem, that the government (some would say all governments) are fundamentally crooked.

But nevermind me, I'm just looking for the negative angle :S

**Grahameeboy** · 3rd June 2007, 21:47

Originally Posted by Karma

Ok then, I'll pay the money to get the bike back, but I'm pretty sure that recovery of stolen propery is part of the police charter, and therefore something they are paid for by the government, who in turn are paid for by taxes.

Sounds to me like the cops aren't getting enough from government (been happening for years) and so are passing the charge onto your average joe, thereby being forced to pay the charge twice.

??

Perhaps rather than saying what a bunch of moaners people are you could see the root cause of the problem, that the government (some would say all governments) are fundamentally crooked.

The root cause of problem was the bent geezer who nicked the bike.

But nevermind me, I'm just looking for the negative angle :

S

....................................

**Karma** · 3rd June 2007, 21:49

Ah yes... but now you're taking it into an area that we have no direct control over.

**Grahameeboy** · 3rd June 2007, 22:01

Originally Posted by Karma

Ah yes... but now you're taking it into an area that we have no direct control over.

The thing is we do not have any direct control other than over out immediate environment but there seems to the idea that the Govt are responsible when it does

**Karma** · 3rd June 2007, 22:08

“Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people”.
Abraham Lincoln

**Grahameeboy** · 3rd June 2007, 22:12

Originally Posted by Karma

“Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people”.
Abraham Lincoln

That was America and about a 100 years or so ago.

Silly comment really when not all the people vote for a Govt.

Life ain't meant to be perfect...........that is half the fun.........Graham Edwards