One of the distressing aspects of the job of the officers in the Vehicle Crime Unit is pulling stolen bikes from the water with very little missing from them.

Somebody's hard-earned money has just been dumped overboard by some uncaring young person, with no feelings whatsoever.

"We often find a bike in perfect condition that has been thrown over the cliff or into the water, where they have gone past the stage of stealing it for stealing sake," said Sgt. Maxwell. "They have been completely malicious and thrown it in the water so that it is completely ruined.

"They haven't take a single part off it, they just completely destroyed the bike. To those people we say what is the rhyme or reason for that? Amongst our section we often joke `if you're going to steal the bike for joy riding purposes, have the courtesy to leave it on the side of the road so we can pick it up'.

"There is no need to completely trash the bike, but they do. Obviously they haven't taken it for parts, probably taken it to get home or for joy riding or to scramble on and once they are finished with it they throw it somewhere where it is very inaccessible."

Lots of money is being made through the sale of stolen parts and the Police have identified some `chop shops' over the years.

"We have identified some over the years and have busted a few," he said.

"I've been to a couple of `chop shops' since I've been in charge of this section and I'm always amazed at how many bikes we find in the yard. It's staggering."

The officers in the unit ride bikes that look similar to those used by the motorcycle patrol section, but they chase cycle thieves instead of speeders.

"We're changing to scrambler bikes because a lot of our work is off-road, through the trees and on the railway trails," he said.

"We're not there to chase people, that's the motorcycle patrol section. Our job is to find and detect stolen vehicles."

The worst hit area for cycle theft is Pembroke Parish by far, not just because of its density but also the fact that Hamilton is part of the parish. Second is Warwick while Devonshire completes the top three.

However, theft of cycles is a 24-hour past time, with 284 stolen in 2000 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., 268 from 4 p.m. to midnight and 378 from midnight to 8 a.m.

"What is not said, and people don't realise it until it happens to them, is when you take somebody's primary transport that person is absolutely stuck," said Sgt. Maxwell.

"If it is a married man or a married woman, they may still have the family car, but both sides of the family still work. So if mom takes the children to school, father has to get to work somehow and if he's a shift worker it is virtually impossible.

"The damage caused to a household when a vehicle is stolen is immeasurable. They may not be able to afford to lay out $4,000 for a brand new bike. They may have to suddenly resort to public transport or a cab and we all know cabs are expensive."

Added Sgt. Maxwell: "It's almost like a right of passage in Bermuda that you're not a man until you have stolen a bike. That's a very sad indictment on our society, but I think that's true."