Stolen and abandoned bikes are clogging up the storage area of the North Bay police station on Victoria Street, so they'll no longer pick them up and hold them for auction or pickup by owners.
Instead, NBPS is looking at a bike registry system using an app.
It's all in response to an "excessive number" of bicycles held in storage that are rarely claimed by their owners.
Under the new policy, officers won't be sent out to collect discarded bicycles unless the caller can provide information that will allow police to identify the owner.
"Currently, under the Police Services Act, the North Bay Police Service is required to store every found bicycle for 30 days, unless it can be returned to its owner before that time," says a news release. "In many instances, victims of bicycle thefts do not report their bicycles stolen. Many who do report bicycles stolen cannot provide definitive proof of ownership, such as a serial number or defining feature of the bike. As a result, very few bicycles retrieved by the North Bay Police Service are ever returned to their rightful owners."
This results in a large number of bicycles, often in various stages of disassembly, being held for months at a time.
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The City of North Bay is looking at a bike registry system using 529 Garage, which is a mobile app and website that allows users to register their bicycles, record their bike’s serial number and identifying information, and report a bike stolen.
"The North Bay Police Service encourages residents of North Bay to download and use the 529 Garage app to help police return lost and stolen bicycles to their rightful owners," says Cst. Merv Shantz, Corporate Communications Officer. "If you do not want to use the app, you are encouraged to take a photo with your bike and record your bike’s serial number so that you can easily identify the bike as your property if police locate it."
“Although we remain committed to investigating the theft of bicycles and charging those responsible, the North Bay Police Service can no longer handle the collection and storage of the large number of bicycles discarded throughout the city” said Inspector of Operations Jeff Warner. “We are committed to returning lost and stolen bicycles to their owners, but we simply do not have the capacity to store discarded bicycles for months on end when, historically, we have seen that very few are reported stolen or claimed by their owners."
Police hope the policy change will help deploy their resources more effectively and efficiently.
