When Evan Polowick realized his beloved red mountain bike had been swiped from a Bridgeland bike rack last week, he reported the theft to his insurance company and the Calgary Police Service.
And then, he went online.
“Instantly I went to social media,” he said. “I posted a picture of the bike (on Twitter) and I started individually asking (prominent users) for retweets.”
Polowick isn’t alone — 730 bikes were reported stolen in Calgary from January to May 2015, marking a 60 per cent jump compared to the same period in 2014, and a 119 per cent increase from the 2010 to 2014 average.
With a major spike in stolen bikes, and officials confirming the force will not introduce a bait bike program any time soon, many devastated cyclists like Polowick are turning to social media for help finding their missing wheels.
Polowick said his “heart dropped” when he saw his cut cable lock on a rack where his 2008 Kona, worth nearly $3,000, was supposed to be last Friday evening.
“I wasn’t angry. I was just sad. I just felt like ‘oh crap, thieves suck.’ I felt violated,” he said.
A creative Calgarian upset after three of his friends recently had their bikes stolen has even taken matters into his own hands — setting up a Twitter account (@FindMyBikeYYC) with the sole purpose of helping devastated cyclists find their missing two-wheeled transportation.
“I was getting really tired of hearing about (stolen bikes),” said @FindMyBikeYYC creator Shane Rempel.
“There’s a bike rack outside of my apartment building and I’m always seeing locks cut and bikes stolen. This year has just been insane for it.”
Hey folks! We've created this account for folks to help find their lost/stolen bikes. Tweet at us if you've lost your bike and we'll share.
— FindMyBikeYYC (@FindMyBikeYYC) June 29, 2015
Since creating the Twitter account in late June, Rempel says two of the stolen bicycles he’s tweeted about have been recovered.
“I can’t fully attribute that to the tweets, but I think every little bit of exposure helps,” he said.
Polowick hasn’t been as lucky — despite retweets from dozens of people including the mayor, the area community association, and @FindMyBikeYYC, as well as hours spent scouring Kijiji, his mountain bike is still missing.
just wanted to say thank you to everyone that gave my stolen bike a RT.
ill update if found. #yycBike pic.twitter.com/NAFcvQUlo6
— Evan (@Monkeyslick) July 6, 2015
Calgary Police Sgt. Katrina O’Reilly said the force welcomes Calgarians turning to Twitter to find their stolen property.
“Social media is a great tool … We used to put a poster on the wall on the community saying ‘lost bike’ but now (information) can get out there quicker,” she said.
“There’s no reason why we don’t support them getting that communication out there.”
O’Reilly warned that if people do see someone in possession of what appears to be a recognized bike, or if they find what they believe is their stolen bike on a website like Kijiji, they should first give police a call.
The officer labelled bike thefts a crime of opportunity and said in the first five months of 2015, 41 per cent of bikes reported stolen in Calgary were taken in break and enters.
Bike theft numbers for June, the same month the new cycle track network officially opened, aren’t yet available. Typically, the majority of stolen bikes in Calgary are swiped from May to September.
In the wake of this year’s rising thefts, O’Reilly said police have scrapped plans for a bait bike tactic, where bikes would be planted with GPS.
“We’re not doing a bait bike program right now. It’s extremely high resource-based and has very low rates of success,” she said.
Instead, officers have recently focused on identifying repeat locations for theft and setting up operations to catch offenders.
Agustin Louro, vice-president of Bike Calgary (an organization that also tweets about stolen bikes), said it’s disappointing police have cancelled plans for a bait bike program.
“The current rising trend is certainly worrying and we hope police take bike theft seriously,” he said.
Rempel, who tweets about missing bikes a couple times a day, said a successful bait bike program could have been “awesome” but acknowledged police can only do so much.
“It’s a hard thing for the police to tackle, that’s why it can be effective for the general public to do what they can,” he said.
“To lose a bike is a reset, you have to find other ways to get around, and all because somebody felt like they were entitled to (your property).”
AKlingbeil@calgaryherald.com
twitter.com/AnnaliseAK