Some helpful tips from the BPD to prevent bicycle theft

From BPD News

BPD Public Safety Reminder: With more bikes out and about as we approach this fall season, there are greater opportunities for thefts to occur. Please review the following safety tips to ensure you don’t become a victim of a bicycle theft:

• Get a U Lock for your bike. The overwhelming majority of stolen bikes are locked with a cable or chain, or weren’t locked at all. The least expensive U-lock is better than the best chain.

• A bike being unlocked is a bigger factor in whether it gets stolen than how expensive the bike is.

• Most bikes that are stolen have been left unlocked “just for a minute”

• Lock the front wheel to the frame, if you can lock it to something.

• Don’t use parking meters or sign polls because the bikes can easily be lifted over and taken away in seconds.

• Avoid parking  your bike overnight in public if it can be avoided.

• Take a picture of your bike to help identify it if it is stolen.

• Write down your bike serial number and etch your driver’s license number 2 places on your bike. Using the driver’s license number will greatly assist police in recovery of stolen bikes.

• Stolen bicycles unlike motor vehicles are extremely difficult for police to recover. Check with the BPD warehouse and ask to look at confiscated bikes.

• Most bicycle recoveries have been initiated by the victim because they have spotted it being used in the neighborhood, advertised on-line or being sold at a second hand bike shop.