Wednesday, July 31, 2019

529 Garage - Helping to reduce bicycle theft and increase recovery

A bicycle locked to a sign post.

As I’ve posted about in the past, Langley City is a safe community. Even so, theft in Langley City is something that occurs. By far, people stealing items from people’s (mostly unlocked) vehicles is the single largest category of reported crime in Langley City. Langley City’s Crime Prevention Task Group is working to help lower this category of theft in partnership with the RCMP and ICBC.

The theft of bicycles is also something that occurs in our community. Typically, around 6 bicycles are stolen each month in Langley City. Many of these bicycles are recovered by the police or municipal crews, but without any tracking information, these bicycles generally do not make their way back to their rightful owners.

I remember taking a tour of the City’s public works yard; there was a shipping container full of recovered bicycles with unknown owners.

To help reunite stolen bicycles with their owners, the RCMP is encouraging people to register with 529 Garage.

529 Garage is both a free app which allows you to register your bike, and a paid sticker that “provides an additional unique identifier for your bike, making it easy for law enforcement and unknowing buyers trace back to you if it is ever stolen.”

The stickers cost around $13 each. The RCMP also hosts registration events throughout Langley where the stickers are provided for free.

If your bike is ever stolen, you can simply create an alert on the app. If the RCMP or city crews recover your bike, they will have the required information to get it back to you.

By registering your bike, you can help reduce the likelihood of it being stolen. If your bike is stolen, there is a higher chance that you will get it back.

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