Posted by Les Faber in It’s Summer – Yay! With warmer weather comes more cyclists and more people who want to separate them from their bicycles (aka bike thieves).
Summer creates a certain casualness among us. This plus the amount of opportunists out there sees an annual rise in bike thefts around the world.
As many of you have heard there was a huge bike theft ring broken in Toronto.
As quoted from the Toronto Star:
A Toronto bike shop owner is now facing more than 60 charges after a brazen daylight theft led police to a massive stash of stolen bicycles stockpiled at several locations across the city.
Over a period of five days, police recovered between 1,200 and 1,500 bicycles, as well as about 1.5 kilos of marijuana and several ounces of crack cocaine, in a store, residence and several garages while executing a series of search warrants.
Igor Kenk, owner of The Bicycle Clinic at 927 Queen St. W., was arrested last Wednesday after police officers said they witnessed a man directing another person to use bolt cutters to remove the locks off two bikes in front of his store.
Here in Ottawa, the local Police Department has initiated a successful sting operation that places generously dated bikes as bait at locations known to be prone to theft.
Things are the same, but to a lesser scale here in Ottawa. Ottawa Police are taking action however.
The Ottawa Sun reports:
With bike theft a concern for many Ottawa residents, local police say their “bait bike” program has been very successful in catching bike thieves in Centretown.
Sgt. Rolly Campbell, of the Ottawa Police’s Central West Neighbourhood Squad, says the project has police conduct surveillance on decoy bikes set up in areas with bike theft problems.
Drug addicts will resort to theft and prostitution to support their habits, Campbell says. These individuals may also steal bikes either to use as transportation or to sell for drug money. He says the program comes in response to issues brought up by their crime analyst, as well as concerns and crimes reported by the community.
Bike theft is a priority for Ottawa residents, says Campbell, citing the 2006 Public Survey on Policing Services Report that places bike theft in the top five neighbourhood concerns. Forty seven per cent of those surveyed responded they were either concerned or very concerned about the issue.
In a one-day blitz on Oct. 10, eight individuals were charged with a total of 19 criminal offenses, and police also retrieved 17 grams of cocaine, a sum of money, five bikes and some stolen meat, according to an Ottawa Police Service news release.
He adds most of the arrests were made on Lyon Street North between Gladstone Avenue and Somerset Street West. He says police caught one individual trying to steal one of the decoy bikes who had two large bags containing about $100 in steaks. Police say these were taken from a grocery store near the intersection of Bank Street and Somerset Street West.
What can you do to protect your bicycle?
- Get a “U-Lock”. Anything else is only a deterrent.
- Lock your bike to a sturdy, immovable object that is securely bolted down.
- Avoid locking to materials that can be cut (wire fencing, trees, wooden railings, etc..).
- Park your bike in a well-lit, well-traveled area.
- Take anything that can be removed (seats, lights, etc) with you. Or someone will remove it for you!
Use your head and you will keep your bike. I have had a number of bikes stolen throughout ny lifetime. Each theft can be attributed to my “laziness”.
