By Shaun Penner

Bike Thefts

City combatting bike thefts with registry service

May 9, 2019 | 12:49 PM

Bike thefts continue to be an issue in Grande Prairie, but there is a way for bike owners to try an protect their wheels.

RCMP and City Enforcement Services will be on hand on May 25 at Ernie’s Sports Experts from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., where they will register the serial number and take a picture of the bike, adding those to their registry.

“What that does is, if your bike gets stolen, you report it stolen to enforcement and they can actually, because you’ve got it registered, they’ll be able to find the serial number on it,” said Cheryl George from City of Grande Prairie Crime Prevention. “If it is picked up and it is found somewhere or it’s turned in somewhere, they can match that bike up to the registered owner.”

This is the second time the city has hosted such an event, with the first one happening back in September. At that time, 30 different bikes were registered with the city from 19 different bike owners.

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City Enforcement Services and RCMP are teaming up on this endeavour to try and respond to a continued rise in bike thefts in the city. So far in 2019, 28 bikes have already been reported stolen, with 18 of those being reported in April. She adds that many bike thefts go unreported by bike owners, meaning that number is projected to be much higher.

George also adds that the trend in bike thefts seems to be a carry over from last year.

“There was definitely (a theft problem) last summer,” said George. “We wanted to kind of get a jump on it again this year, before summer really hits and have everybody come out and do their registry before it gets to be a bigger problem than it already is.”

Those who cannot attend the event on the last Saturday of May can also register their bikes through the City’s eServices website. Owners can add the serial number, make and model as well as the colour of the bicycle to the registry. Bikes can also be reported stolen through the service as well.

Registering your bike on May 25 or online is free of charge.