BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
London’s new Cycling Commissioner Andrew Gilligan has met with BikeRegister to discuss how bike marking is an effective means to deter cycle theft.
After the meeting, Gilligan had his own bike marked and registered by BikeRegister’s sales director James Brown.
BikeRegister is the preferred bike marking product for the Metropolitan Police Service and is one of the best known online bicycle identification and registration initiatives aiming to reduce cycle theft, identify stolen bikes and assist in owner recovery. A significant 48,000-plus bikes have been marked and registered onto BikeRegister by the Met since June 2010.
Following increased bike marking events in 2012 in two London ‘hotspot’ areas there was a 44 per cent bike theft reduction reported by officers in Chiswick; and a 45 per cent reduction in cycle thefts in Hackney over a specific period.
Gilligan said: “I had a bike stolen in London a couple of years ago but had no chance of having it recovered as it wasn’t marked. Police recover many bikes during their operations and if a bike has no identification marking on it, officers have no way of knowing who it belongs to.
“I would like to see thousands more bikes marked in London in order to deter cycle theft, which in turn will help to ensure the continued rise of cycling in the Capital.”
Pic: James Brown with Andrew Gilligan (standing)
