Police in Stratford are joining a North American bicycle registry that could help local officers find and return stolen bikes more often – and they’re hoping area cyclists will want to lend a hand.
Police in Stratford are joining a North American bicycle registry that could help local officers find and return stolen bikes more often – and they’re hoping area cyclists will want to lend a hand.
“I think this is a really good opportunity for our community to be able to work together to improve this issue,” Const. Darren Fischer, a community resource and media relations officer with the Stratford Police Service, said Thursday. “The more people out there are that are aware of it and talking about it and engaging with it, the less likely (those types of thefts) will occur.”
Stratford Police recently became the latest law enforcement agency to join 529 Garage, a private US-based bicycle registry that’s been rolling since 2013. Founded to “galvanize riders, shops, police, schools and cities with a common set of tools that allow communities to become better organized than the criminals,” 529 garage has since developed a massive network of users that includes law enforcement, universities, cities and individual cyclists from around the world, according to its website.
Fischer describes it like a “community watch for your bicycle.”
Riders who opt into the free service can upload to the registry serial numbers, photos and other info about their bikes. If those wheels suddenly go missing, users can not only notify nearby cyclists in their community, but also the registry’s entire network, all at the touch of a button on the 529 Garage website or smartphone app.
The network has helped police in Vancouver, early adopters of the registry, reduce bike thefts and increase the number of bikes officers are able to return to owners, Fischer said. Police in nearby cities such as London and Guelph are also finding the service helpful, he added.
“It’s more than just a Stratford issue,” Fischer said. “It’s a whole North America-wide issue with these bikes being transported around. The more that we can participate and engage, the more likely we’ll be able to help solve the problem.”
Fischer said Stratford police are planning registration drives in the region expected to be announced when their efforts to embrace the registry ramp up over the next several weeks. Some community partners are already on board. The Optimist Club of Stratford is chipping in to help advertise, Fischer said.
In the meantime, Fischer said he’ll be engaging local cycling clubs and other stakeholders about the benefits of joining the registry. Another selling point? It’s easier to use and more robust than a registry that’s been available at Stratford’s city hall for a number of years, and Fischer hopes the user-friendly format 529 Garage offers encourages more people to take part.
Stratford police recover around 150 to 200 bikes every year but are only able to return about one to two per cent of them, Fischer said. That lack of success is among the reasons bike thefts go underreported, he added.
“One of the issues is that (cyclists) don’t think they’re going to get a bike back, which is unfortunately very true,” he said. “If we can improve the (information about bikes) being registered … and improve the ability to be able to find the owners of the bikes we are recovering, it would be amazing.”
There are benefits for police, too.
Stratford Police Chief Greg Skinner told the community policing advisory committee in St. Marys this week that temporarily storing recovered bicycles – mandated under the Police Services Act – has been “cumbersome” at times. At one point, recovered bicycles were taking up so much space at Stratford police headquarters they decided to store them off site.
Unclaimed bicycles are eventually auctioned off, Skinner said, but it costs more to store them than police can recoup.
“We’ve been constantly struggling for the last number of years and, quite frankly, it’s a losing venture for us from a financial perspective,” he told the committee. “(It’s) not a lot of money, but … we’ve been looking at a number of different alternatives. This is an additional piece that will hopefully, eventually, have some kind of positive impact.”