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Mind the purse on the T
By adamg on Mon, 01/23/2012 - 9:47am
T ad campaign that started last year.
Ed. note: Percentage adjusted due to error in figures originally provided by the T.
Latest crime stats from the MBTA show that property crimes, such as larceny, increased 26% on the regional transportation system in 2011 over the year before.
Smart phones, bicycles and catalytic converters on cars parked in station lots account for much of the increase, the T says in a statement:
Police have handed out leaflets and the MBTA has increased the frequency of public address announcements (in English and Spanish) throughout the subway system to remind passengers to be careful when using their smart phones and other hand-held devices. Transit Police have increased high visibility patrols in areas impacted by these types of thefts. The police have established an internal task force to combat the catalytic converter thefts and are working with local law enforcement partners who are experiencing similar types of crimes. In addition, patrols have been increased in those parking lots affected by the converter thefts
MBTA Transit Police Chief Paul MacMillan said his department is working particularly closely with local police in Arlington, Somerville and Cambridge on bicycle theft, which has become more of an issue as the T expands availability of bike cages at stations and more commuters ride their bikes to those stations.
The T said violent crimes were slightly lower across the system in 2011 over 2010.
Neighborhoods:
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Comments
Catalytic converters?
Is there a big shortage of aftermarket converters? I'm curious why thieves are stealing this particular part of a car.
scrap platinum metal
...and yes, also replacement converters.
It's the platinum
As Platinum Soars, the Catalytic Converter Gets Hot - from 2008!
Of course, some of the attractiveness of converter theft might be removed if the scrap dealers who buy these things paid a bit more attention to provenance, but, nah, that would interfere with their God-given right to make money.
If the legislature required
If the legislature required every purchase to be logged, like pawn shops, it might be harder for them to deal with stolen goods. But they don't. I wonder why.
"MBTA Transit Police Chief
"MBTA Transit Police Chief Paul MacMillan said his department is working particularly closely with local police in Arlington, Somerville and Cambridge on bicycle theft, which has become more of an issue as the T expands availability of bike cages at stations and more commuters ride their bikes to those stations."
Yeah, three years ago:
http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/news_events/?id...
http://mbta.com/about_the_mbta/news_events/?id=18211
Everyone who rides had the same first reaction: "Wow, that'll be a nice one-stop shop for bike thieves". They were right.
I would be curious
If the uptick in bike thefts is on seriously locked bikes, or poorly (cable locked or locked only through a Quick release wheel) locked ones.
I'd also be curious about whether there were actually more thefts after the cages went in, esp. controlling for increased ridership.
Are most of the thefts from
Are most of the thefts from inside the cages or outside?
The Alewife cages didn't really increase capacity, since they banned locking bikes to railings when the cages went in. The vast majority of these railings are out of the way, where nobody ever walks, so the bikes weren't obstructing anyone.
where's the outrage?
Why are they blaming the victims by telling people to be aware of their surroundings and take prudent precautions?
Whaaahhh!
I got called out for being a sexist pig and now imma gonna comment on every crime thread. Whahhhh!
No permission
I get a "no permission" error on the first two links. Did they take them down?
Try to download them now
My apologies. I created a 2012 directory for, well, 2012 files, then forget to set the permissions to allow for public viewing. Should work now.
Ca ne marche pas
Still no permission
Weird, and my apologies
Could you try:
http://www.universalhub.com/images/2012/mbta2011by...
and let me know if it works? It's a slightly different URL - goes directly to the UHub server (the other one actually goes to a content-distribution network I use for largeish files).
That works
This
http://www.universalhub.com/images/2012/mbta2011by...
works. The original two links still don't work. We have some firewall issues at work today at that might be the problem though the IT guys say all is back to normal. In what may be potentially related, universalhub.com is not displaying as normal today: no gray background, formatting is not as normal. I think that means that not all the content is getting here or perhaps I can't "see" it.
So I'm the only person with a problem?
Do you have a cell phone? Of
Do you have a cell phone? Of course you do!
nnnnnnnno I don't.
nnnnnnnno I don't.
Win-win situation
On the T? Don't take the phone out at all!
You win because it won't get stolen; the rest of us win because we can read a book or even (gasp!) think a little bit without having to listen to you yappering away about when everyone's meeting up for a drink later.
Texting is silent
as are various other things that you can do on a cellphone these days.