Residents of Calgary’s northwest community of Montgomery say that bike thefts have been on the rise in recent weeks.
Yasmin Abdul has lived in the area for 20 years. She said that she had to ramp up her security after her bike was stolen and several of her neighbours’ properties were targeted.
“We’ve never actually had such a rash of people coming through methodically and regularly,” she said Friday.
Abdul said on the night her bike was stolen, the alleged thieves appeared to try and break into one of her neighbours’ garages, and when they weren’t successful, another garage was broken into in the morning.
“They did it under three minutes, which we could tell from our security system,” she said.
The Calgary Police Service said so far, bike thefts have been steady, and while officers haven’t seen a rise in numbers, residents can take precautions.
Const. Brennan Vanderwater said that police are encouraging everyone to register their bicycles with the Bike Index in an effort to help retrieve ones that are reported stolen.
Vanderwater said people in the community can add extra security if they notice persistent problems.
”Securing back gates and back fences if that means putting a lock on those,” Vanderwater said.
“I know they may seem like extreme measures, but if you’re getting that repeat offence over and over again, you may have to look at doing something different.”
Steve Reno told Global News that he had set up security cameras at his home in Montgomery and has seen a lot of suspicious activity, including what he believed were people casing his residence.
“They don’t care,” said Reno. “They feel entitled to do whatever they want.”
Reno has reported all of his findings to police and said he has since stopped leaving anything outside.
Abdul has started locking up her gates more securely and said she is constantly watching for suspicious activity.
She said she believes that people may be more desperate due to layoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic, but if anything, it has brought the community closer as neighbours are looking out for one another.