Robbed in Front of the Police
Normally, the safest place in the world is in front of the police station. You know, normally. Yet one of the only crimes committed against me since I’ve been in China happened directly in front of my local PSB. As in four meters away. It wasn’t violent, and it wasn’t terrible, but it is a classic example of how odd things are here.
Earlier this week I had to bike down the PSB to pick up some paper work, and I left my bike out front. When I was finished I had to go to work, and since I was in a rush (and in a suit) I decided to leave my bike next to the others in front of the police station. My apartment is only a few blocks away, and I figured that it had to be pretty much the safest place around. Plus my bike is a POS. (That stands for p—- o- shit.)
Anyway, I didn’t make it back until two days later, and guess what. My bike was gone. I went inside and asked them, thinking perhaps they had moved it somewhere else. They looked around for about 20 minutes and then decided it was gone. Gone? Well, stolen probably.
They said I must have left it a really long time. When I told them it had only been about 48 hours they looked a little sheepish.
Now I have to admit, the local PSB is actually really nice. Every time I go in there I think about what a great television show it would make. Not an American show, mind you, but maybe a British one. You know, like The Thin Blue Line. The police usually seem fairly unbusy, and they all have an friendly playful way about them. I know it’s not exactly the image of “goons and thugs” this police state has in the West, but what do you want me to tell you? Whenever I go there they kill me with kindness.
Anyway, I don’t really want to rip on them too much, because they are really friendly authoritarians, but it just seems odd to me that the only place I’ve ever had a bike stolen in Beijing was essentially in the police station. (In Chengdu I had several stolen, including once on campus, directly outside of the room where I was teaching. But I digress.)
So the moral of this story is…well there’s no moral. But seriously, WTF?
Mick responds:
Posted: April 26th, 2008 at 4:56 pm →
48 hours – that’s about 48 years in Beijing Padlocked Bike time. Mine was nicked in the 20 minutes it was chained to the Sino Japanese Hospital.
Nicki responds:
Posted: April 26th, 2008 at 5:20 pm →
I’m assuming the bike was locked…
I had a similar experience crossing the street in front of the main PSB in Sanya. As I stood in the middle of the street waiting for traffic, two guys on a motorcycle pulled a u-turn right in front of me. Just as my brain was registering “wow, they’re kind of close to me…” the guy on the back reached out and grabbed my bag, which was strapped across my body. They sped off, ripping the bag from me.
Of course nobody at the PSB saw/did anything. Later as I stood there bleeding from the neck making my report, they didn’t even have the courtesy to be sheepish about it happening right in front of their building. Instead they told me “You should be more careful.”
Larry responds:
Posted: April 26th, 2008 at 9:55 pm →
Are you sure the PSB people didn’t tell the robbers about your bike ?
The best PSB story I have heard:
A guy in Hong Kong bought a brand new Mercedes. He was so proud of it. And it was stolen in Hong Kong.
He went to Shenzhen for business, and, ala, he saw his own car running around the city. It was a stolen vehicle, right ? So he went to the PSB to report it. He was arrested right away, for importing a vehicle without a permit.
I suspect he’s crime was not knowing the PSB was in on the deal.
Monica responds:
Posted: April 28th, 2008 at 9:22 am →
It well known to our Chinese people that police men are one of most corruptive group in China. We never trust them, and they won’t serve for us except you bribe them.
nanheyangrouchuan responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 2:53 pm →
Monica has it right, the next time Josh sees his bike, it will be with a PSB person on it.
Daniel responds:
Posted: May 5th, 2008 at 6:39 am →
You should have locked your bike. When I was in college people (United States) people would lose 1 wheel at a time if the bike was locked. And if the wheels were gone, the handle bar would go missing right after.
The police stations are not as safe as one would think. Last month the news had said there was a car with a dead body in it parked in the police station parking lot for a few days….WTF? In the United States, seriously..lazy or just oblivious? WTF?