Bicycle Theft, The Dutch Experience
One of the greatest sources of worry and aggravation are the enormous amount of bicycle thefts that take place every year.
The widespread scale on which bicycles are stolen, and the manner in which they are openly sold on for relatively small amounts of money, point to the fact that this phenomenon appears to have become an accepted part of society.

The following quote below from a university magazine provides quite an apt example.

“I automatically assume that my bike will get stolen after a few months", says Rosanne B. resignedly. She is about to start her Psychology studies this year. She got her bike from a teacher in secondary school. Friends of hers that have been living in Utrecht for a while now, have already warned her that owning a bike in Utrecht is only a temporary pleasure, and when you lose it, you can always steal one back or buy an old heap from a junkie for “next to nothing.”

‘Everyone’ knows that he or she is buying a stolen bike ('fencing'), and yet they carry on doing it. There is little or no priority at all in tackling this problem as far as the police are concerned, and the members of the public hardly ever report bicycle thefts. It is precisely because of this moral slide that politicians want to get a firm grip on the situation, and deal with the problems thoroughly and effectively. Besides the theft of bicycles, there are also related matters that demand attention, such as reckless riding, poor illumination, and the general mechanical state of the bicycles themselves. The point can also be made that bicycle theft can lead to committing crimes of a more serious nature.

Here are some facts and figures:
total number of bicycles: 16,000,000 (1 per inhabitant!)
annual sales figures of new bicycles: 1,300,000
number stolen annually: min. 700,000 (of which 150,000 are reported to police)
average price of bicycle: 450 Euro
number of insured bicycles: 1,600,000 (estimate)
insurance company losses: min. 25 million Euro ( estimate)
total (material) damage: >> 50 million Euro ( estimate).