Under this topic, we’ll list out news articles mentioning Bike Index.
Despite bicycle theft arrests, OPD advises taking extra precautions
July 23, 2019
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Omaha Police said Tuesday they have made several arrests in recent bike thefts, but that riders should still take precautions to keep their cycles safe.
So far this year, 127 bikes have been reported stolen.
OPD said when locks fail, there are steps you can take to keep your belongings safe.
Steve Thomson had his custom electric bike stolen on Thursday.
“It’s kind of devastating because I planned ahead, I parked the bike in a prominent spot, and I locked it properly,” Thomson said. “And it just wasn’t enough.”
Thomson is out $4,000 and an electric bike he put months of work into.
“I’m not in the position to replace that bike in the same manner or to get a car,” he shares.
He said his bike was locked with a motorcycle cable and a sturdy U-Lock outside of a heavily trafficked area near Mutual of Omaha where he works.
With bike thefts happening throughout the city, OPD recommends taking extra precautions.
“If a person has the ability to bring their bike indoors or in a garage, we suggest that,” Officer Pecha told 6 News.
Pecha also recommends jotting down your bikes serial number, so if it is taken like Thomson’s, it can be linked back to you.
“A lot of these bikes end up at the pawn shops in town,” Officer Pecha said. “It’s easier for us to track down your bike and get it back to you if you have the actual documentation that bike is yours.”
That’s all Thomson is asking for: to have his bike to be returned back to him in any condition.
“I’d rather have it back than have the money for it to be honest with you,” Thomson said looking at a picture of the bike. “Because I just have an emotional connection to it. I’ve done so much work to it. So much money. I’ve had a lot of fun with it. I even have it hooked up so I can tote my kids around in one of the bike trailers.”
Until then, Thomson will use his back-up standard bike.
OPD recommends registering your bicycle with online services like “Bike Index” or “529 Garage” to have it registered and easily traceable.
Tips and tricks to keep your bike from getting stolen in Calgary
July 22, 2019
Bike thefts are up significantly in Calgary this summer, and in light of that, representatives of the Calgary Police Service and Bike Calgary offer their recommendations for how to keep your bike from getting lifted.
About 40 bikes were stolen in the first week of July alone, says Sgt. Scott Neilson of Calgary Police Service’s District 1 mountain bike unit.
Gary Millard, president of Bike Calgary, says it comes down to three main things for him: location, the type of lock you use, and taking precautions to help get your bikeback if the worst happens.
Location: park inside instead of outside
During the off-season, bikes are generally stolen in break and enters, says Neilson. But in the summer, it’s a different situation because everyone is out using their bike.
Millard says indoor parking should be used, if it’s available, over outdoor options.
“There’s a lot of property managers and companies that offer secured bike parking,” Millard said.
If cages with restricted access are available indoors, even better, he says. Additionally, parking where there is video surveillance might further deter thieves.
Gary Millard, president of Bike Calgary, keeps his bike in secured, underground parking provided by his employer during the day. (Monty Kruger/CBC)
If outdoor options are all that’s available, be sure your bike is locked to something secured to the ground.
Locks: you get what you pay for
“One of the first things we ask people to do is to get a good lock,” said Neilson. “There’s a number of locks out there that go from the very low end to the very high end. They provide the amount of security that you pay for, basically.”
“There are some good, well-priced, reasonable locks out there that will do a good job, but if you want a really good one, you’re going to have to spend a little more money on those.”
Millard recommends a rigid U-Lock with a partnering cable.
Millard recommends a rigid U-Lock, like this one from Kryptonite, that comes with an additional cable to ensure both wheels are secure as well as the frame of the bike. (Monty Kruger/CBC)
“So you’ve got really three valuable components in a bicycle: the frame and the two wheels. And so when you lock it up — particularly in a public location — you want to make sure you lock up the frame with your U-Lock and secure your wheels with an accessory cable,” Millard said.
Getting your bike registered
Millard says that before there’s any chance of your bike getting stolen, you should be sure to register it with online web resources like Bike Index or 529 Garage. The sites will ping you if your bike ever turns up on the registry after being stolen.
And keep information like the make and model of the bike along with colour details and serial number handy. If it gets stolen, you can report the theft online to Calgary police, giving you a chance of getting it back. The more information the better, Neilson says.
Sgt. Scott Neilson is with CPS’s mountain bike unit in District 1. (Monty Kruger/CBC)
“We get a weekly hot-sheet with all the [reported] stolen bikes for the week on it,” said Neilson.
Whenever bikes are turned up through search warrants or found in strange locations, reported bikes can be returned to their original owners.
Thursday’s letters: Bicycle registry an idea whose time has come
July 11, 2019
A Bike Index sticker is seen attached to a bike at the Edmonton Police Service’s Seized Vehicle Section in Edmonton, on Tuesday, July 9, 2019. The new system lets the public register their bikes so if they are stolen, the police can see the Bike Indextag and return stolen property to the rightful owners. Ian Kucerak / Postmedia
Re. “Mark your property,” July 10
The front-page story Wednesday took me back to growing up in Gainesville, Fla. in the 1950s.
Gainesville was a bicycle-friendly, university city. Bicycles were required to be registered and tagged. Safety courses were held by the city and the schools to ensure that young riders were “up to speed.”
Delighted to see that Edmonton is now also “up to speed,” at least with bikeregistration.
G. Wayne Raborn, Sherwood Park
The City of Edmonton selects non-profit Bike Index to implement city-wide registration platform
July 11, 2019 — Bicycle Retailer
Fourteen local IBDs join the fight in a coordinated effort to fight bicycle theft with the community
The city of Edmonton, Alberta is announcing today that they have selected Bike Index as the city’s official bicycle registration system to combat bicycle theft.
Edmonton will use Bike Index via the Edmonton Police Service and 14 local bike shops, bringing together a community of cyclists in the city and surrounding areas to diminish bike theft. A successful collaboration among EPS, community members, and bike shops has already resulted in a high stolen bike recovery rate in Edmonton, and an official partnership with Bike Index will only increase this success.
“The support we have received within EPS and Edmonton’s cycling community shows how important this initiative is,” said Constable Kenny McKinnon. “We are proud to lead our city into a future that will hopefully see a noticeable decrease in bike theft and we want to thank Bike Index for partnering with us to make it happen.”
EPS will help the bike shops in town implement registration protocols. Shop employees can register customers’ bikes at the point of sale, either with one of Bike Index’s automatic registration integrations with Lightspeed or Ascend or through our easy bike entry tools. Citizens will be able to pick up a free QR sticker and registration pamphlet at any EPS Division. By working with local cycling organizations and businesses, EPS will be able to reach more cyclists and help them get their bikes registered.
Constables from EPS will help educate community members and organizations on how to find their serial numbers and register their bikes with the EPS.
Bike Index has already recovered over $8 million in stolen bicycles and is excited to help Edmonton bring this service to their citizens, local cycling businesses, and community members.
“The last few years we’ve had a ton of grassroots support in Edmonton,” said Bike Index Executive Director, Craig Dalton. “This has led to numerous stolen bike recoveries by adding official support from EPD and local bike shops, we have the opportunity to radically alter the stolen bike problem in Edmonton.”
Integral to this partnership has been a handful of Bike Index ambassadors in the area, many of whom are part of the Stolen Bikes Edmonton Facebook group. Stolen Bikes Edmonton has used their Facebook group, in conjunction with the police service and Bike Index, to recover over 1,000 bikes.
“About a year ago we met a few Edmonton Police members that showed some interest in bike recovery and the Stolen Bikes Edmonton Facebook group,” said Brent Thorvaldson, who runs Stolen Bikes Edmonton. “These officers were willing to help us with recoveries when we had a positive match to a bike posted for sale online and a bike registered as stolen on Bike Index. We would share the suspect ad and the Bike Index registry directly with EPS as this included all the info they needed to make the recovery. This process resulted in consistent recoveries.”
Using Bike Index, Edmonton Police officers will be able to message registrants from directly in the field. When an officer finds a bike, they can use their smartphone devices to scan bikes with Edmonton-branded QR stickers. Law enforcement can even message Bike Index users before they report their bike as stolen (for instance if it’s stolen while they are at work and they don’t yet know it’s missing). This allows EPS to return bikes to their owners as quickly as possible.
“Over the past year the officers we have been working with felt that Bike Index would be a great tool for officers to use alongside CPIC [Canadian Police Information Centre] as they can search by make, model, and serial numbers, which were [previously] not available to them when they were not at their desk or in their cruiser,” said Thorvaldson.
EPS’s hope is that they can use Bike Index to integrate with local bike shops and diminish the amount of work that shops and cyclists have to do to register bikes.
“It took a lot of hard work from a few passionate officers to put together a proposal to introduce Bike Index not only as a recovery tool but as a bike registry that has proven to stand out from the others with ease of use,” said Thorvaldson. “The thought is if bike owners are registering their bikes and locking them up, then they will also report them as stolen to law enforcement - which means more recoveries and bikes being returned to their owners.”
Shops participating in the launch:
Mec (2 locations)
Hardcore
United
Revolution Cycle
Mud Sweat and Gears
Element Cycling
Red Bike
Pedal Head
Giant
Sports Shack
Sports Check
Cycle Logic
Cranky’s
Renu Cycle
About Bike Index:
Bike Index is a 501(3)© non profit bicycle registration service matched with a stolen bike recovery platform.
Thanks for posting this @Brock_Howell!
Have you automated posting in some way?
I wish! But I’m not technically savvy at all …
But people can sign-up for daily automated emails with all of the news articles about bike theft & registration issues though! Just drop your email here, or email me at brock@bicyclesecurityadvocates.org.