Stealing and law enforcement.

[Eric]

Time for the cosmic condom..... sell 70% of the tickets for next year's event at the burn. That's testing commitment! The other 30% sell throughout the year but each purchase must go through an individual vetting process, the center of which must be a hand-written letter from a child describing how the potential purchaser has positively impacted their life. All letters must include age of the author and a phone number as a percentage must be randomly audited for authenticity.

Or you could just try to teach the newbies on the playa some of the culture, but that would entail actually talking to them instead of just dismissing them because they Burn differently. Much easier to make really impossible hurdles to keep out the riff-raff and unworthies...

[$tormy]

Hey Eric,

Burning differently is color. Color is good. I have met so many fantastic people over the past six or so burns attended . The common thread I seem to find is that they are eager to engage in conversation, want to learn about you, want to contribute and are respectful of boundaries. Douche baggery, e.g. bike thieves, violent people, (I have encountered both forms of the genus Douches baggerus on the Playa), and their ilk seem to present themselves more frequently with larger and larger burns. We have artificially induced population control this year via the BLM practicing the rhythm method with the Man. Maybe this is good. Maybe smaller is better?

$tormy

[Ugly Dougly]

Exercise common sense and self-reliance. That never changes. The attendance numbers should never alter the burner ethos.

Maybe it's the quality of the new burners? Never had a bike stolen myself.

[BBadger]

I know what we'll do. We'll put up a huge fence to keep out all those illeg.. undesirables from getting in. We'll spend a couple billion for it, because they represent an assault on our culture. Not only that, only those who have already attended will be allowed to attend in the future. Keep those borders closed right?

[thirt33n]

driving and dreaming of the playa on the way home today...was actually thinking about this...
of the 5 times i have made the journey..my last time out was the only time i had my bike "stolen".
it was Sunday afternoon and i was searching for a few friends that had eluded me all week. ...leaned my unique and well pimped out bike against a lamp pole for about 1 minute...and returned to an empty lamp post....without hesitation i just started walking to my next destination, smiling, knowing that i had been so lucky for so long.....i found my bike in a pile the next morning on the way out of town...stripped of it's el wire and leather saddle bags....
it was today, almost 3 full years later that i finally felt angry about it.

i know i would have a hard time holding back violence if i actually saw someone riding off on my bike.....oh, i would catch them yes...because i am able...but would i really want to? YES...and they would pay.

(i usually loosen all quick releases and keep a close eye)

edit** duh, i've already been here on this thread....where's my head? in the desert. xoxoxoxoxox

[theCryptofishist]

Hey, remember this thread?

[iclimb]

In 2002 I brought a new $1000 bike, nicer then any bike Ive seen at BM ever, locked it and it was fine. Every other year Ive brought cheaper bikes, locked them and they were fine. Most BM bikes are garbage and no pro bike thief with thief tools would want them.
At the end of BM this year I counted at least 100 abandoned bikes, not including the green loaner "yellow" bikes. That implies lots of folks dont give a shit about their garbage bikes. Half the time drunk or high people lose their own bikes.
If someone stole/borrowed my shitty bike Id probably do the same and leave it there at the end for them to claim.
Removing the bike chain to prevent theft is moronic.
Cops don't give a shit about stolen bikes in major cities, or at BM.
Cracking a beer bottle on a bike thief? The amount of bravado from pussies hiding behind their keyboards is astounding. You really want to go to jail for a $50 piece of shit bike?

[iclimb]

Correction: per danger ranger on twitter: 2,000 bicycles left on the playa!!! Mine wasnt one of them.
People dont fucking care about their bikes!

[CapSmashy]

Apparently last year, and this is all second hand information from someone I worked on gate crew with, local law enforcement made a number of arrests on the 9 o'clock side of the city on burn night for theft. They got alerted to suspicious activity in a few camps, investigated and wound up busting 2 carloads of people and stuff like generators and personal electronics that were left unsecured while the owners went out to the burn.

[CapSmashy]

Cracking a beer bottle on a bike thief? The amount of bravado from pussies hiding behind their keyboards is astounding. You really want to go to jail for a $50 piece of shit bike?

I personally have a $400 electric powered bike that yes, I would happily beat the fuck out of someone to retain possession of.

And guess what, I would not be the one going to jail for defending my property and having to use force to effect a citizen's arrest to prevent the consequences of theft.

You should read up on the law and how it pertains to specific situations prior to making comments about it.

[theCryptofishist]

Smashy
It's beneath your dignity to feed the troll.
IMHO.