As the cycling community grows, so does the risk of theft

In recent years, keeping bicycles safe from theft has become a challenge for users

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By YEORGIOS PRONTZOS

It’s a familiar story. You go into a coffee shop, lock up your bike outside and go in to take your order. By the time you come back outside, the bike is gone.

Former Vancouver Police Department officer Rob Brunt, who calls himself Canada’s foremost bike theft detective, says everyone has heard of a similar tale.

“There’s a cut lock on the ground and your bike is gone,” said Brunt.

Since the advent of Project 529, which has operated in Vancouver for the past decade, reported bike thefts in Vancouver have steadily decreased. Brunt said being able to track down stolen bikes is a big part of that decrease.

Participants register their bikes under Project 529, and if the bike is reported stolen, a community alert gets sent out.

“Everyone within 15 kilometres on the app gets an amber alert about your bicycle,” Brunt said. “So you might never have seen a Trek Madone, but you’re going to get a picture of it and it’ll tell you the details and you’ll be able to click on it.”

Paul Jordan, executive director of the Kerrisdale Oakridge Marpole Community Policing Centre, said any way to slow down the theft will help with recovery of a bike.

“You’ll never be 100 per cent secure with your bike, but you want to make it more difficult for the people to get your bike,” he said. “Use various types of locks that are resistant to angle grinders and research different types of bike locks.”

Jordan said a better lock costs more but it’s a great preventative measure.

“You have to see if that’s worth it for you,” he said.

He said ending bike thefts may never happen, but it’s good to set the bar high. Another suggestion, he said, was to move to Antarctica if you want total security for your bike.

Nolan Nadeau, who works at West Coast Cycles in Kerrisdale, said cyclists should register and get a sticker for their bikes. Serial numbers are logged for bikes sold from the store.

“That way if people’s bikes go missing, they can give us a call and say, ‘do you have the serial number for the bike’ and we can give that out,” Nadeau said.

Nadeau said the store gets a call once every four months needing a serial number for their stolen bike. The store also sees bikes returning to the store with the original owner after it has been recovered and sometimes mangled.

“They tell us, ‘hey, they’ve recovered the bike, but I don’t know why they put the bars on backwards.’ It’s a whole thing. The things they do in those chop shops are truly phenomenal,” he said.

To ensure they are not the victims of theft, Nadeau said there are a few safety measures bike owners can take such as storing your bike indoors.

Bike owners will often try to hide their bikes to secure their bike, but that counterintuitive approach is not helpful.

“If it’s hidden no one can watch it, if it’s right out there on the street, a thief must cut through a lock in broad daylight with everyone watching they’re not gonna do that, so resist the urge to hide your bike, lock it up somewhere in plain view,” Nadeau said.

 

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