I don't think they were suggesting that violence is the preferred option. But I don't think there's any country where law enforcement cares about bike theft, so prison isn't really an option.
Edit: I found a great article about that for the UK here: https://www.cyclinguk.org/cycle-magazine/justice-cycle-theft
> Ministry of Justice records show that in the five-year period between June 2017 and June 2022, just 159 people (out of roughly 350,000 bike theft cases) were found guilty of bike thefts and only two of these were given immediate custodial sentences.
The police could do way more, but it's easier to victim blame ("register your bike, use two locks, etc.")
