Really? After finding out that the police reports you have also "seen" do not actually include charges you now have seen the DA pressing charges while strolling through the court house and walking into random arraignment hearings, I presume? And you probably did not catch any names of the perpetrators, right?
>What evidence do you have to support your claims that people choose not to bike because of theft
Talk to people perhaps? I figure you don't bike and people you know don't either, so, instead of a court house how about hanging at an LBS and asking people working there and the customers?
>and that theft isn't prosecuted based on housing status
That's not something I claimed, I said that bike theft is not prosecuted period. But homeless also are not charged with the whole bunch of crimes they commit regularly: trespassing, public intoxication, traffic violations, disturbance of peace etc. You can ask a local PD or inquiry your DA office about that.
>Why do you use homeless as a noun to refer to people?
So there. I can prove the DA is willing to charge bike thieves, you have a bunch of conjecture scapegoating homeless people and denying reality.
> Talk to people perhaps
I talk to people at bike shops, i talk to my coworkers, i talk to people at the bars, i talk to my friends. Unlike you, i live here, i bike nearly everywhere, and follow local media/social media. The problems you're describing aren't real and you've done nothing to prove they are.
>It's strange, and i don't think it's unintentional.
How do people call the homeless in Chicago? I've lived on the West Coast, in the South, and in the Midwest (not in Illinois though), and people called them "homeless" everywhere. It's obviously intentional because I am referring to the homeless and it would be strange to call them something else.
>Anyway, i know for absolute fact that bike thieves have been charged by the Chicago DA. Here's proof
Wow, a story from more than a year ago. It does seem you are correct, bike theft is so rare in Chicago and the police is vigilant, the last bike thief they caught was probably that guy and they did not have any bikes stolen since lol
As I said, bike thieves are never charged statistically. Surely there are some unlucky ones like that individual, who probably stole from somebody connected to the police. But, again, visit an encampment and observe hundreds of bikes and parts there. Those are not bought in stores.
> Unlike you, i live here, i bike nearly everywhere, and follow local media/social media. The problems you're describing aren't real and you've done nothing to prove they are.
Right, you bike everywhere and yet you never had bike stolen and don't know anybody who had a bike stolen. In Chicago, no less.
> Right, you bike everywhere and yet you never had bike stolen and don't know anybody who had a bike stolen. In Chicago, no less.
This is correct.
1. You said theft is the main reason people don't bike. Prove it.
2. You said homeless people aren't prosecuted for theft. Prove it.
We refer to "homeless people" as "homeless people," we don't just say "homeless" as if they're something different than a person (and don't be sly, you never said "the homeless," you said "homeless," alone, using the adjective as a noun, which seems intentionally degrading)
Really? After finding out that the police reports you have also "seen" do not actually include charges you now have seen the DA pressing charges while strolling through the court house and walking into random arraignment hearings, I presume? And you probably did not catch any names of the perpetrators, right?
>What evidence do you have to support your claims that people choose not to bike because of theft
Talk to people perhaps? I figure you don't bike and people you know don't either, so, instead of a court house how about hanging at an LBS and asking people working there and the customers?
>and that theft isn't prosecuted based on housing status
That's not something I claimed, I said that bike theft is not prosecuted period. But homeless also are not charged with the whole bunch of crimes they commit regularly: trespassing, public intoxication, traffic violations, disturbance of peace etc. You can ask a local PD or inquiry your DA office about that.
>Why do you use homeless as a noun to refer to people?
Because it's a noun referring to such people? https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20homeless