Police forces recognised for efforts to fight bike thieves at 2018 Cycle Crime Awards

Police forces across the country have been recognised for their efforts in combating bike thieves at the 2018 Cycle Crime Awards.

The awards were held as part of the annual National Cycle Crime Conference, now in its fourth year and hosted by national database BikeRegister in partnership with British Transport Police (BTP).

150 delegates, including representatives from 37 police forces, attended the event in Birmingham.

BTP was one of four forces to receive an award, as a result of its Lock It, Mark It communications campaign.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service in Tower Hamlets – a borough which includes Brick Lane Market, where stolen bikes are often re-sold – were recognised for the highest number of stolen bikes recovered using BikeRegister.

In all, officers in the borough recovered more than 200 stolen bikes and managed to reunite many of those with their owners.

West Midlands Police received an award for their ongoing anti-bike theft initiative Operation Magpie, while Police Scotland were recognised for reducing cycle theft in Edinburgh working alongside the city council, Sustrans and local bike shops in the Scottish capital.

James Brown, managing director of BikeRegister, told the conference that more than three quarters of a million bikes now have their details logged on the database.

He said: “This year’s conference explored the theme of partnership working to tackle bike crime and highlighted the excellent work being done by so many of our delegates.

“BikeRegister will continue to engage with our valued partners from law enforcement, insurers and retailers and will shortly be announcing an exciting new partnership.

“We are thrilled with the success of our fourth Cycle Crime Conference and are grateful to the many police forces and industry partners who attended.”