Preventing cycle theft

Bike theft is one of Richmond borough Police's top priorities. Over 600 cycles are being stolen each year in the borough, mainly in Richmond and Twickenham town centres.

Steps to take

A crime classed as “non-residential burglary” in the Police statistics has also increased. This can often be theft of tools or bikes from garden sheds. As there are around 1,000 such crimes each year in Richmond borough, the real number of stolen bikes is actually much higher.

It is estimated that more than half of cycle thefts take place from the owner’s property.

There are 3 key actions cycle owners can take to combat such crimes:

1. Register your bike

Registering your bike means that if your bike is stolen then recovered by the Police, it can readily be traced back to you.

You can get your bike security marked by contacting your local Safer Neighbourhood Team.

2. Lock it twice or lose it

The important thing is to use substantial locks, preferably two of them. When away from home, try to store your bike in a public storage area and install surveillance equipment nearby if possible. 

See our Bicycle Theft leaflet for further advice.

3. Make sure your shed is secure

Thieves often have an easy time breaking into sheds with flimsy padlocks to steal the valuable contents. Specialist shed alarms are now available from most hardware stores, priced from around £15.

There is advice on strengthening your shed in our leaflet on shed and garage burglary.

If this is too technical for you, consult the Secured by Design website for advice on choosing a supplier or installer.

Don’t make it easy for thieves

Joining Neighbourhood Watch is another step you can take to combat burglars. Contact your local Safer Neighbourhood Team to find out about your local Watch.

Our borough’s Police currently have an unverified theory that thieves may be managing to target expensive bikes to steal, by looking at social networking sites and/or specialist websites where cycle enthusiasts can plot and share their cycling routes. The plotted routes may often show the home location. Please be wary of giving too much away if you use sites such as www.strava.com and www.garminconnect.com. Try not to make it obvious that you own an expensive bike by posting about it, or leaving cycle carriers on your car.

Contact

For further information contact the Richmond Safer Transport Team:

Telephone: 020 8247 5869
E-mail: stt.richmond@met.police.uk
Web page: Richmond Safer Transport Team