Is a GPS tracker truly effective?

[rawlus]

There’s a few threads on this but i hadn’t seen this angle…

GPS tracker logic says get one so you can show the police how to recover your bike.

Has anyone actually been successful with this? Getting the police to use your tracker to recover the stolen bike?

Perhaps if it were abandoned on a public location intact or not, both you and/or police could locate and reacquire the bike.

But what if the bike were taken into a private residence or other non-public property?
Im not sure police in most jurisdictions can help in that scenario.
questions:
can we prove the gps tracker is attached to a bike? your bike?
can we even prove it’s your gps tracker being tracked? and thst you’re not tracking the tracker owned by the person with the bike?
can we develop the probable cause to obtain a search warrant based on a gps tracker signal that you can’t prove is coming from your tracker and can’t prove is attached to your bike upon private property to which a search warrant must be executed to even reacquire the bike.

im trying to think how the police could use my tracking equipment to legally and lawfully reaquire a stolen bike on private property, using the gps alone (no cctv or eyewitness, etc)

 

[fooferdoggie]

myself I doubt the cops would be willing. if it is a apartment building or multi floor place no way.

 

[Dallant]

There’s a few threads on this but i hadn’t seen this angle…

GPS tracker logic says get one so you can show the police how to recover your bike.

Has anyone actually been successful with this? Getting the police to use your tracker to recover the stolen bike?

Perhaps if it were abandoned on a public location intact or not, both you and/or police could locate and reacquire the bike.

But what if the bike were taken into a private residence or other non-public property?
Im not sure police in most jurisdictions can help in that scenario.
questions:
can we prove the gps tracker is attached to a bike? your bike?
can we even prove it’s your gps tracker being tracked? and thst you’re not tracking the tracker owned by the person with the bike?
can we develop the probable cause to obtain a search warrant based on a gps tracker signal that you can’t prove is coming from your tracker and can’t prove is attached to your bike upon private property to which a search warrant must be executed to even reacquire the bike.

im trying to think how the police could use my tracking equipment to legally and lawfully reaquire a stolen bike on private property, using the gps alone (no cctv or eyewitness, etc)

Who needs the police?
Good questions. I have no idea how that would work, especially in a bigger city.

 

[PDoz]

It's your tracker, keep the receipt and they are in possession of a stolen tracker. If you happen to find other stolen products like your bike, bonus.

 

[ActionJackson]

These days honestly I don’t think the police are going to risk the liability of getting a search warrant based on an Apple tracker or other device.

 

[6zfshdb]

Always carry a picture of your bike and the serial#. It helps prove the bike is yours.
IMO, the best approach would be to track the bike yourself. On the off chance it is in plain sight, just take it back. If confronted by the thief, leave and call the police. No bike is worth being physically injured. Make sure you tell the cops it is an expensive electric bike and not just a kids toy. Most e-bikes are worth more than $1000, which, in most states, puts it above the limit for grand larceny. It is a class D felony, not petty theft, and most police departments will respond.

If you track the stolen bike to a location but it isn't visible, it's an entirely different story. Call the police anyway. Sometimes, a knock on the door by a cop is enough to cause the perp to cough up your stolen property. If not, put the legal wheels in motion and hope for the best. It's worth a try anyway.

If you have insurance on your bike, most companies require a police report so it likely will be necessary to get the cops involved.

 

[ActionJackson]

If you have insurance on your bike, most companies require a police report so it likely will be necessary to get the cops involved.

A good policy with a small deductible gets you pretty much a new bike. Mine whittles down to 70% after year 2 - fair enough. All you need is a field report - very unlikely it will ever get around to an investigation, same as other property crimes. Most E-bikes average a lot less than newer automobiles, and they do very little follow up on auto theft.

 

[rawlus]

It's your tracker, keep the receipt and they are in possession of a stolen tracker. If you happen to find other stolen products like your bike, bonus.

the receipt only shows you bought a tracker. it’s not tied to you in some unique way to my knowledge. i can’t prove the tracker pinging in the screen is the tracker i bought because i can’t prove ownership of the stolen tracker. unless there’s some serial number thing that i’m not aware of that is in my receipt, on the tracker and displayed in the gps data - that feels like what would be needed to demonstrate ownership. even then police won’t open a warrant for a stolen tracker i think.

 

[MartsEbike]

Forget GPS in these cases, its an RF signal you want...

The RF signal is important because it allows you to find it with a good pinpoint accuracy, and as such you can be highly certain which property contains the bike.

But with GPS, there is always the element of doubt as its not perfect.

Anyways, the long and short of all this is... in the UK, Police do not need a warrant for RF signals where it can be clearly shown to be emanating from an address. They will enter and retrieve the property.

But if you're using GPS, then a judge must issue a warrant.

So all in all, its good to make sure your tracker has both GPS and RF signals.

 

[ActionJackson]

So all in all, its good to make sure your tracker has both GPS and RF signals.

Ok, and what product has that ?

 

[MartsEbike]

Don't give me a passive aggressive "ok, and".... do your own googling....

 

[MartsEbike]

That's a weird reply... Very strange. Definitely a bit of a slunt....

Luton, sheep????

Are you thinking of Wales???? The joke is the Welsh are sheep shaggers. But as we can see, you also have sheep on the brain.

 

[MartsEbike]

Did you delete your reply @VoltMan99

Don't worry I saved it for you...

and yes, you should feel ashamed of yourself....

pathetic excuse of a man. Started googling me because I dared to reply..... What a guy.

 

[mschwett]

around here, the police would theoretically accompany you to the location. i had a scooter stolen and the officer asked if i knew the current location via my phone, and that “we could probably get there if it’s within a few miles.”

practically speaking, the typical amount of time passed between filing a report and getting personalized attention is too large, the police are busy with higher priority crimes and the bike is likely far away, across city and county lines, and sold or parted out already.

this is an interesting program here pre-pandemic, not sure how long it lasted:

In an effort to lower the bike crime rates and catch bike thieves in the city, the San Francisco Police Department launched the bait bike campaign. So if you see a bike being stolen in the area while a police officer watches, don’t worry, it’s all part of the plan.

What the San Francisco police do is place the bicycles in open areas to lure and then catch bike thieves. When the robbers steal the bike, they would think they can get away with the crime because no one follows them. What the culprits don’t know is that the particular bike is equipped with an anti bike theft device.Using the GPS tracking system, the police officers—in civilian clothes—track the thieves….

 

[mschwett]

somewhat related : i accidentally left my backpack in a park downtown. rode off without thinking. realized one mile later. turned around, went back, it was gone. s*it!! had my ipad pro in it.

checked “find my iPad” oh my iphone. ipad two blocks away, moving west. rode after it. fairly quiet block downtown, not too many people out walking (this was near peak pandemic). i saw an older woman near the dot, but she didn’t seem to have a backpack. i approached cautiously and asked her from a distance (didn’t want to frighten her) if she had seen a blue backpack. “yes!” opened up her giant shoulder bag and fished it out, gave it to me. didn’t speak much english. offered her a reward, she just smiled and shuffled off.

 

[Dallant]

There’s a few threads on this but i hadn’t seen this angle…

GPS tracker logic says get one so you can show the police how to recover your bike.

Has anyone actually been successful with this? Getting the police to use your tracker to recover the stolen bike?

Perhaps if it were abandoned on a public location intact or not, both you and/or police could locate and reacquire the bike.

But what if the bike were taken into a private residence or other non-public property?
Im not sure police in most jurisdictions can help in that scenario.
questions:
can we prove the gps tracker is attached to a bike? your bike?
can we even prove it’s your gps tracker being tracked? and thst you’re not tracking the tracker owned by the person with the bike?
can we develop the probable cause to obtain a search warrant based on a gps tracker signal that you can’t prove is coming from your tracker and can’t prove is attached to your bike upon private property to which a search warrant must be executed to even reacquire the bike.

im trying to think how the police could use my tracking equipment to legally and lawfully reaquire a stolen bike on private property, using the gps alone (no cctv or eyewitness, etc)

Is a GPS tracker truly effective as it relates to ebikes? Yes. The real question is does the legal system allow for their use to retrieve a stolen ebike? I’m sure in some cases they would and in others, maybe not.
I do not carry proof of ownership of my ebikes but maybe I should. Lord knows I have a ton of pics of my ebikes on my iphone.

 

[maybeandrewford]

I used a GPS tracker and AirTags to recover my bike before getting the cops to do the actual recovery.

I found the GPS tracker (Invoxia) to be more handy during recovery, because it shows tracking history, but AirTags are great dollar for dollar. In the end both trackers and the same spot, but the AirTags didn't update nearly as regularly. Probably ideal to have multiple ways to track in case one breaks down or gets found by the thief.

In general I think we're giving most bike thieves too much credit. Many bicyclists seem to be worried thieves are going to find and disable trackers, but I think most are just stealing bikes and then trying to flip them for a little cash in a few days. I'm sure there are sophisticated thieves out there, but I don't think that's most of them.

 

[6zfshdb]

Airtags can be effective in recovering stolen property but you are often at the mercy of local law enforcement. Many won't respond to reports of this nature usually citing manpower issues.

However, It may be possible to recover your property yourself if you locate it in plain sight. If you go onto or inside private property though, you could be charged with a criminal offense. Confronting a thief is not a good idea either. No bike is worth risking personal injury.

Sometimes, all you can do is file a police report with the information you have and hope for the best.