Muggings in Bermondsey (SE London) - is this actually a common thing?

[jimster99]

I've seen loads of posts on facebook/reddit recently about cyclists getting mugged at knifepoint in the Bermondsey / Southwark area of South East London. Last Friday there were at least four in a day.

Link:
https://www.reddit.com/r/londoncycling/ ... kent_road/

It's so isolated especially at night and there are multiple escape routes for robbers to get away quickly. I pass through this area quite often including the really quiet stretch past Bermondsey train station.

Is this really something to worry about? Anyone here been mugged? I don't fancy it frankly!

[rareposter]

Is this really something to worry about? Anyone here been mugged? I don't fancy it frankly!

Firstly there's an element of confirmation bias - you're seeing posts from people who have been mugged but no posts from the much greater numbers of people who rode through that area with no issues.

Secondly, yes, it's long been A Thing. Two masked guys in a moped ride up alongside you, steer you into the kerb, threaten you with a machete then ride off with the pillion guy wheeling the bike alongside the moped. Main targets are high end road bikes and it tends to happen in spates. Richmond Park was a hotspot for a while.
What they'll be doing is shoving the bike into a nearby van, heading out again, repeat that 3 or 4 times and you've got £20,000 of bikes in an hour. But equally that also makes it sound like it's terrifyingly common whereas in fact it's an hour-long crimewave before they disappear off somewhere else.

[Jdsk]

As above: it's rare and biasses in reporting will be common.

It is worth planning what you'll do if it happens. For me that's mostly about the First Law of Inanimate Objects.

Jonathan

[Carlton green]

As above: it's rare and biasses in reporting will be common.

It is worth planning what you'll do if it happens. For me that's mostly about the First Law of Inanimate Objects.

Jonathan

^^ This. There will always be some places that it’s better not to go, but I’m inclined to think that we’re often more concerned than we need to be and that random events happen to us all. Not that I have any, but as a rule of thumb be mindful about where you display wealth and, when you can do it, thinking ahead rather than reacting is a very good idea.

[jimster99]

BBC picking this up: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cge83478rgxo

It sadly still seems to be going on. Lewisham cyclists had their monthly meeting last week and got a policeman to attend. He confirmed it was an ongoing issue. Apparently they are taking it seriously...but hard to stop. The area around Folkestone Gardens in Deptford has become a particular hotspot but there have been violent muggings at other spots on the C10 and C14 cycle routes around Bermondsey/Deptford. This backs up my own experience on both the C10 and C14 cycle routes where I regularly see balaclava'd miscreants cruising past on Surrons or mopeds.

The thieves do seem to be targeting electric Bromptons so if you have one I would consider getting a second cheap bike and using that instead.

[mjr]

Is this really something to worry about? Anyone here been mugged? I don't fancy it frankly!

Firstly there's an element of confirmation bias - you're seeing posts from people who have been mugged but no posts from the much greater numbers of people who rode through that area with no issues.

Also, remember that algorithm - driven social media are a funfair mirror that distort reality by showing you what they estimate will keep you reading, which is usually what upsets you. Facebook has done more research and testing on this than reddit, but reddit is run by people who seem to envy fb and are quickly making it as evil as fb.

This seems to be a problem, but I expect the algorithm is latching onto it.

[jimster99]

Is this really something to worry about? Anyone here been mugged? I don't fancy it frankly!

Firstly there's an element of confirmation bias - you're seeing posts from people who have been mugged but no posts from the much greater numbers of people who rode through that area with no issues.

Also, remember that algorithm - driven social media are a funfair mirror that distort reality by showing you what they estimate will keep you reading, which is usually what upsets you. Facebook has done more research and testing on this than reddit, but reddit is run by people who seem to envy fb and are quickly making it as evil as fb.

This seems to be a problem, but I expect the algorithm is latching onto it.

Confirmation bias can be a real problem but I think this is more than that; a real issue that needs to be addressed - not sure how though! Here's a video of a bike mugging at a busy cafe in Bermondsey from the last month. Pretty scary. The police man who attended the Lewisham cycle meeting said these muggings have happened lots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STpxCJVtkKY

[awavey]

plus its fat lot of use if you happen to be on the receiving end of one of these bike jackings, because sadly being a victim of crime doesnt take confirmation biases into account.

though equally its just as arguably confirmation bias to claim the opposite aspect is true that just because you might then have read from greater numbers of people who rode through that area had no issues, that there are equally no issues either.

theres clearly a violent bike theft problem in this part of SE London, has been for a while, that thank god hasnt fortunately spread out to the shires yet, but theres no reason for anyone to downplay that it is happening, and it should concern all of us imo.

[mjr]

theres clearly a violent bike theft problem in this part of SE London, has been for a while, that thank god hasnt fortunately spread out to the shires yet, but theres no reason for anyone to downplay that it is happening, and it should concern all of us imo.

There's a problem but it's NOT clear how big. The BBC reporter literally says "It's difficult to say if the number of bike jackings has increased, but it has been going on for years. Considering 1.5m journeys a day are by cycle in London, you would think bike-jacking is still relatively rare," and if you look at the theft layer on https://bikedata.cyclestreets.net there doesn't seem to be an obvious hotspot compared to neighbouring parts of wild London, but of course it doesn't show bike-jacking distinctly.

While not blowing it out of proportion ( unlike algorithm driven social media ), there is some problem and the reported lack of action by the met police on this violent crime seems scandalous.