The increased popularity of bike riding in Phoenix has consequently created another trend — a rising number of bike thefts, according to observations by Sgt. Jared Lowe of the Phoenix Police Department.
Lowe said the Phoenix Police Department averages about three bike theft reports a day, and Sgt. Daniel Macias of the Arizona State University Police Department said upward of 700 bicycles were stolen during the 2013–2014 school year across ASU’s four campuses.
At any given time there are about 10,000 bicycles parked on the four campuses, so it becomes a challenge to keep track of all of them, Macias said.
To add to the number of reports, Sgt. Lowe said the Phoenix Police Department also receives thousands of phone calls from people who believe their bikes were stolen but cannot prove it.
Sgt. Lowe’s unit has been dealing with several bike theft groups in the downtown area who sell the bikes, or take them apart and sell the parts separately. He said they’ve also been looking into at least one group who paints the stolen bikes and sells them.
“Thieves realize bicycles are hard to trace, unless the owner has the serial number or it is very unique, so there is a greater chance they can get away with it,” Lowe said. “They can sell the bicycles quickly either on the street or online and most people don’t think twice if the bicycle was stolen.”
For the past few months, the Phoenix Police Department has continued to add to its bike registration program in hopes of increasing the number of recovered bicycles and to deter bike thieves. Lowe said they currently have 125 bicycles registered with the new program, and that it is growing quickly.
The officers put a tamper-proof sticker on every bicycle they register in order to recognize which bicycles are part of the program and to be able to easily contact the owner. They also take photos of each bike so that if one of the bikes is reported stolen, officers can pull up the picture of the bike on the computer in their patrol car and keep an eye out for it, Lowe said.
Lowe also said that he thinks the stickers on the registered bicycles will help to deter thieves from stealing them in the first place.
“The bicycle registration program is still in its infancy and it just went department-wide last week,” Lowe said. “I started attending briefings to educate other officers on the program and we are looking into filming an instructional video that can be shown in briefings so officers throughout the city know more about the program.”
In addition to the new bike registration program, Lowe and other officers at the Phoenix Police Department have been working on a bait bike program and surveillance of areas with high rates of bike theft in hopes of catching suspects.
Erik Turtle, a coordinator for the ASU Downtown Phoenix Bike Co-Op, said he hears about stolen bikes or bike parts at least twice a week.
Lowe, Macias and Turtle all stressed the importance of using both a U-lock and a cable lock to lock bicycles.
“A suspect who was observed by officers and arrested at the ASU Downtown campus last week (brought) a saw and will cut thin wire bike locks that people use,” Lowe said. “This suspect was observed cutting the lock by officers and they said many students walked right by him and no one noticed what he was doing.”
Macias said that the ASU Police Department has been working alongside the university and the Parks and Services Department to make ASU’s campuses less susceptible to bike theft.
Turtle said making use of the caged bike corrals on campus is also a way to ensure student’s bikes don’t get stolen. These bike corrals require the students’ bikes to be registered, and then students may use the service for free.
Contact the reporter at Nina.Barone@asu.edu
