Bike theft prevention: tips to help you keep your ride

With warmer spring weather just around the corner, we’re expecting more cyclists to start hitting the roads and trails in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, we’re also expecting bicycle thieves to ramp up their activities. In the last 30 days we have received 24 reports of bike thefts, which is a dramatic increase. Here are some useful tips to help you avoid losing your ride to theft.

Record Details About Your Bike

• Record your bike’s serial number so it can be added to police computer records if it is stolen, which will enable police to return it to you if it is recovered (you can often find your bike’s serial number on a sticker or embossed on your bike, as well as on your record of sale or at the store where you purchased it)
• If you buy a bike privately (ie., Craigslist, Facebook), before making the purchase, look up the serial number in the Canadian Police Information Centre stolen bike database
• Photograph your bike, as a reference, to help us find it and/or return it to you
  Be Vigilant At Home

Be Vigilant At Home

• If you are leaving your bike in or attached to your vehicle, lock it to your vehicle (high end mountain bikes are often stolen from the back of a pick-up truck or vehicle in large parking areas such as malls while the owner is running a short errand)
• Choose appropriate places to park; well lit areas with good visibility are best
• Do not leave your bike on or in your vehicle overnight, even in secure underground parking lots (Secure underground parking lots are a popular stalking ground for bike thieves)
• If you are required to store your bike in a designated area, such as a bike locker, use two different, high quality locks and remove the seat 

What do police do about bike thefts?

Aside from proactive patrols and conducting investigations into bike thefts, police utilize bait bikes. The bait bikes can be in any or every neighbourhood in North Vancouver and our arrest rate is very high for theft of bait bikes. The bait bikes are located across North Vancouver all-year-round to target bike thieves and reduce bike theft.

We encourage bike owners to register their bikes with 529 Garage at www.529garage.ca. Registering a bike with '529 Garage' will increase the ability of the police to return a stolen bike to the proper owner.

If your bike has been stolen, please report the theft to the North Vancouver RCMP at (604) 985-1311.