What's it Take to Go To Jail?

'Judge sends home gang which stole more than 200 bicycles." (El Tiempo)

Police have arrested a criminal gang who allegedly stole hundreds of bicycles.

On their way back home?
Alleged bike thieves and their take. 

Bike theft is an epidemic here, altho a chronic one. But that's not all: Recently, cyclists have been murdered during bike thefts.

But 13 of the 15 alleged thieves won't go to jail, but instead received home detention. Home detention
is often a joke here, either because the arrestees relax comfortably at home or even remove the bracelets, put them on a housepet, and go out to party or commit more crimes.

Advocates of home detention point out, reasonably, that prisons are overcrowded and that prisoners often learn to be worse criminals, rather than be rehabilitated.

But, for a group which allegedly stole hundreds of bikes, which they might have sold for the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars, does home detention serve as any deterrent at all?

And the punishment seems out of line in a nation turning harsher and harsher against drug crimes - which many people call 'victimless crimes.'

In contrast, stealing the transport and recreation from hundreds of people seems like a crime deserving serious punishment.

By Mike Ceaser of Bogota Bike Tours

Maybe if We Were Motorists....

Where's the cop when you need him?

This afternoon, Bogotá City Councilman Roberto Saenz had organized a meeting of bicyclists with a police official to look for solutions for the problem of bicycle theft.

The police official had confirmed three times, Saenz said. Saenz had even changed the date of the meeting to meet the policeman's schedule.

Several dozen of us waited for an hour and a half - the officer didn't show up.

Perhaps he was busy looking for a stolen car. Or pursuing a car thief. Or just out driving his car.

Perhaps if we'd been motorists instead of just cyclists, the police official would have been sure to show up.

Blog by Mike Ceaser, of Bogota Bike Tours