Big jump in bicycle thefts in Brandon

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After nine months, the number of bikes stolen from Brandon lawns, garages and sheds has more than doubled compared to the same time period last year.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/10/2017 (2365 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After nine months, the number of bikes stolen from Brandon lawns, garages and sheds has more than doubled compared to the same time period last year.

As of Friday, the Brandon Police Service reports 165 bikes have been poached from properties this calendar year. This year’s haul doubles the 82 bikes taken through the first nine months of 2016.

The police are only aware of the stolen bikes its owners report as missing.

Ian Froese/The Brandon Sun
Gerard Wade, owner of Peoples Market Place, left, joins Neil Jordan, who works in bylaw enforcement with the Brandon Police Service, on a recent afternoon. The two work together in reclaiming stolen bikes, with People's Market Place storing bikes that police find at their warehouse. Members of the public must now be accompanied by a member of the police detachment if they want to browse through bikes for the one they lost.
Ian Froese/The Brandon Sun Gerard Wade, owner of Peoples Market Place, left, joins Neil Jordan, who works in bylaw enforcement with the Brandon Police Service, on a recent afternoon. The two work together in reclaiming stolen bikes, with People's Market Place storing bikes that police find at their warehouse. Members of the public must now be accompanied by a member of the police detachment if they want to browse through bikes for the one they lost.

BPS spokesperson Sgt. Dave Andrew believes there’s a correlation between an increase in bike thefts and the proliferation of methamphetamine on the streets.

As such, individuals involved in the drug trade have latched onto bicycles as property they can obtain and sell quickly in order to supply their habit, Andrew said, who noted the number of break and enters this year has also increased, though not at the same rate.

“We’ve had a high increase in arrests related to the methamphetamine trade, either possession or purpose of meth trafficking,” Andrew said. “There is more methamphetamine in the city and I think that stealing bicycles are easy targets … easy for people to make quick money.”

He explained there is minimal effort for thieves. In a lot of cases, they don’t have to carry or conceal anything.

“It’s as simple as finding them and riding away.”

It isn’t difficult to find buyers for the bikes either, he said.

Often, the thieves have it easy, because they come across unlocked garages and sheds. Sometimes they force open locks and doors to get at a set of wheels.

A hike in the number of stolen bikes occurs during a year the police force made it harder for the brightest thieves to steal bikes already found.

Previously, residents searching for their lost bike could flip through a binder of property sheets at the Peoples Market Place, a store on 13th Street selling used furniture and appliances, where found bikes are kept.

The sheets provided a complete description on each bike bylaw officers discovered.

The practice stopped this summer when police became concerned someone was trying to steal a bike that wasn’t theirs, Sgt. Guy Roberts explained.

A person claimed a bike belonged to them, though they hadn’t reported it missing to police. Eventually, the cyclist was able to prove ownership of the bike, but the scenario demonstrated how people could abuse the system.

Police theorized that someone could browse the property sheets for a bike they wanted to steal and someone else could show up the next day and make a report to police of a stolen bike, with information their ally learned from those property reports.

“Under the old system, anybody could go down there, look at the sheets, pick out a bike and make an attempt to get that bike, because they have all the bike information in front of them,” Roberts said.

“In our office we said, ‘We need to be better at this.’”

Now, a member of the public must ask a bylaw officer to look for the bike if they believe theirs was found.

The cyclist must demonstrate to the officer the reclaimed bike belongs to them. Producing a receipt and serial number are two of the best ways to accomplish that, he said.

However, if that information was already given to police, cops could deliver the bike to the owner without their involvement.

Garry Winters, chair of the Kiwanis Club of Brandon bike auction committee, said he appreciates the change, which absolves the service club of any responsibility should someone take a found bike that isn’t theirs. As of late September, they had 116 bikes in preparation for next spring’s bike auction, which is comparable to previous years.

To prevent one’s bike from being stolen in the first place, Andrew encourages cyclists to lock their garages and sheds and to secure their bicycles by fastening them through the frame and a tire.

Owners should keep a record of the make, model and serial number of their ride, to help with recovering their bike should it be lost and found.

» ifroese@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @ianfroese

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