High tricks to keep away from bike theft, and what to do if it occurs to you

It’s a gut-wrenching second — going to hop in your bike, solely to find it isn’t the place you left it, regardless that you locked it. 

Anna Schlieneber is aware of the sensation all too properly.

“I locked my bike up. It had a U-lock and a cable lock on it, but I guess it didn’t secure it well enough because when I came back down it was gone,” she mentioned.

It occurred final weekend, someday in the course of the 90 minutes that Schlieneber was visiting a pal in Centretown. 

“It’s kind of violating. It’s a piece of property that I really value. Like I use it for exercise, for activity, for getting around downtown, and it’s just really upsetting,” she mentioned. 

Ottawa police say bike thefts within the metropolis had been really on the decline from 2018 till final 12 months, after they began ticking again up.

“[In 2018] we were at an average of about 1,700 bikes stolen per year — and keep in mind, this is just what’s reported and the information that we have — versus now we’re seeing about 1,400,” Const. Derek Thompson informed CBC.

Thompson works with the Ottawa Police Service’s central neighborhood useful resource staff, and says Centretown continues to be the town’s sizzling spot for bike theft. But it will probably occur anyplace, particularly with out the precise precautions.

How to keep away from bike theft

Here are Thompson’s greatest tricks to stop your prized possession from being stolen:

• Lock your bike in a visual public space.

“Choose well-lit, very open, highly visible areas with … very visible bike racks, bike racks that are fixed and immovable,” Thompson suggested. “What we want to do is create a situation where it certainly doesn’t give them an opportunity to spend a lot of time working to defeat that locking mechanism.”

The most dependable sort of lock is product of high-grade metal, which is way more tough to sever with bolt cutters or different instruments. 

Thompson mentioned the very best methodology is to loop the lock by way of the entrance wheel and bike body, then safe it to a set rack or comparable object. For further safety, safe the again wheel with a second lock if attainable. 

• Register your bike with 529 Garage. 

It’s a free anti-theft app that permits you to add a photograph of your bike, the serial quantity and another distinctive options to assist establish it. Police use the app often to assist reconnect recovered bikes with their house owners.

“It is a go-to resource for us to be able to identify whether a bike is stolen, and to immediately connect with the owner of that property,” Thompson mentioned. 

You can decide up a sticker to point your bike has been registered at Ottawa police headquarters on Elgin Street or by way of 529 Garage.

What to do in case your bike is stolen

Thompson mentioned if you happen to witness a motorbike theft in progress, name 911. Don’t name the non-emergency line or report on-line. 

Don’t interact with the thief, but when attainable take images or movies of them within the act to assist in any police investigation. 

If your personal bike is stolen, Thompson mentioned the very best plan of action is to file an official police report.

Follow these steps, he mentioned, and also you simply may see your stolen bike once more.

“Sometimes the greatest rewards in our job are returning something that’s extremely valuable to somebody’s possession, and the smiles on their faces, endless expressions of gratitude. I mean, those are what really makes our day,” Thompson mentioned.