A smart phone app created to register and track bicycles in case of possible theft is under consideration by Guelph Police Service to help curb the problem, which has been linked in some cases to organized crime and the drug trade.
The service, called Garage 529, was created about five years ago and is free for cyclists to register their bikes, said J Allard, CEO of Project 529.
More than 700,000 bikes from across North America are currently registered in the app’s database, which is also searchable via an online website. That’s important, said Allard, because it allows police departments a simple way to track stolen bikes outside their own borders.
“A bike stolen in Guelph probably isn’t getting sold there — it’s going 50 kilometres in one way or another, getting stored 90 days in a storage unit or garage along with a bunch of other bikes. The fence is moving 20 or 30 of them at a time,” said Allard.
A lot of money is generated from the sale of stolen bikes and much of it ends up supporting organized crime, said Allard.
“It’s one of those unique crimes where — by stealing a bike — you have a great getaway vehicle,” said Allard.
The database is free for police departments to search, said Allard. “The more bikes that are in the database and the more law enforcement agencies that use it, the more bikes come home. It’s really simple math.”
Police departments can choose to partner with Project 529 to create a localized version of the web site for a fee.
“The police don’t have to write software, they don’t have to maintain a database, they don’t need to update it or test it with the newest version of iOS or Windows — we do all of that stuff,” said Allard.
In addition, police services that subscribe to the service can use the database to track its effectiveness and run reports.
“It’s just like building their own registry, but it has the benefit of being North America-wide,” said Allard.
Cyclists can also purchase a Garage 529 sticker for their bike, which Allard likened to having an alarm service on your house.
“It’s kind of like the ADT sticker in your yard that says, ‘Hey bad guys, if you mess with this bike the cops and community are going to know about it',” said Allard.
Mayor Cam Guthrie brought the app to the attention of Jeff DeRuyter, chief of Guelph Police Service, during a recent police services board meeting.
"It's a cool idea,” said Guthrie. “Something that hopefully helps reduce bike theft and helps get bikes returned to people."
The Guelph Police Service has been reviewing a number of possible bike registries to respond to the community issue of bike thefts, said DeRuyter.
DeRuyter confirmed Garage 529 is one of the options the police service is considering, but said a final decision has not been made.
