It’s a crime of opportunity.
In recent weeks, local Facebook community groups have been littered with posts from Delta residents notifying the community that their bike or bikes had been stolen. But according to Delta police, their statistics show that in fact, bike thefts are in fact down compared to this time last year.
“I looked back at 2019 and looked back during this period from last year to this year and for this summer compared to last summer we have fewer thefts than we did last year,” said DPD spokesperson Cris Leykauf. “July 2020 was significantly down compared to last year, however, we do seem to be ahead of where we were in August from last year. Also these are also the ones that have been reported to police and we know there are people who don’t necessarily report things such as bike theft.”
Leykauf said typically these tend to be crimes of opportunity.
“Sometimes these are people committing crimes using one bike, then dumping that one and stealing another one – we’ve seen that a lot,” she said. “In 2019, summer is more of a peak time for bike thefts. Last year it peaked in July. Oddly enough, Monday is a high day for reports of bike thefts.”
In the past few weeks, DPD has re-launched Garage 529, which was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a free service offered by Delta police where residents can have their bike registered.
“This is something that our volunteers were working on and we don’t have many of our volunteer programs back up and running yet. We are trying to think of ways that can make a difference for the community and offer a service that might be very much appreciated,” said Leykauf. “We have had really good response so far in the curbside bike registration – a bit of a delivery service if you will.”
If you'd like to have your bike registered for free, email: 529@deltapolice.ca, and provide your name, phone number, email address, home address, the best time to be contacted, and the number of bikes to be registered (please do not call the non-emergency line for this request).
Leykauf this is a great way to be proactive in the event that your bike is stolen.
“This is key especially if there is no specific description we might not be able to return it to its rightful owner, so Garage 529 is an easy way to help reconnect a bike with its rightful owner,” she said.
