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Bike thefts becoming ‘significant problem’ in Red Deer

Residents are sounding the alarm on the growing problem of bike theft in the city.
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Contributed photo Rebecca Stevens, 44, had her bike stolen last week and is hoping by sharing her story she helps the community become more aware of the problem.

Residents are sounding the alarm on the growing problem of bike theft in the city.

Rebecca Stevens, 44, rode her bike to the Red Deer Recreation Centre this past Thursday for a swim with her son.

Some 45 minutes later, they returned to find her bicycle, which she locked with her son’s bike, missing from the rack.

”Came out, the lock was cut, my bike was gone,” she said. “Luckily for some reason, my son’s bike was still there … More than anything it’s just disappointing to me that we live in a city where you can’t ride your bike to one of our rec centres or anywhere and leave it outside for less than 45 minutes. With a heavy-duty lock on it and still expect it to be there.”

She purchased the orange Transition mountain bike in May.

Since Stevens posted her concern on Facebook, she said it’s unbelievable the number of people who have similar stories — some even worse than her own.

“Now that I’ve heard from so many different people, I feel completely stupid. Of course my bike got stolen. I knew crime was bad in our city, I didn’t know it was that bad,” she said.

“You cannot expect to ride your bike in the city, leave it outside and expect it to be there when you get back. It’s a huge thing.”

The Red Deer RCMP say over the past two weeks, there have been less than a dozen bikes reported stolen.

Since June 1, just under 100 have been reported.

The RCMP stated that might not be entirely indicative of the scope of the issue. They admit there is a problem with bike theft in the city. Between 200 to 250 bikes are up for grabs at the police auction twice a year.

“People think it’s not important to report their bike stolen, especially if they don’t have information on it. The numbers are not high for the bikes that are being stolen, but what’s being reported is very low,” said Red Deer RCMP Const. Grace Jeanveau.

“Obviously encouraging someone to report it stolen is going to help us immensely. We have so many recovered bikes, and we just don’t have the information we need to get it back to the owner.”

Jeanveau said bike owners should take a photo or two of their bike, record the model and serial number in case a theft does occur.

Also having a heavy-duty lock and being aware of where you choose to leave your bike are among the other pieces of advice.

Those tips won’t likely return Stevens’ bike, but she hopes by sharing her story that maybe facilities in the city can step up and help bike owners. At the very least, she believes if sharing her story helps just one bike stay safe, it was well worth it.

“It’s created awareness for me to be super vigilant now, and I’m trying not to be paranoid. You don’t want to live in fear,” she said.

“I feel like the more awareness and hopefully, even if it saves one other person’s bike or their property, (it was worth it coming forward).”



Byron Hackett

About the Author: Byron Hackett

Byron has been the sports reporter at the advocate since December of 2016. He likes to spend his time in cold hockey arenas accompanied by luke warm, watered down coffee.
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