Bicycle Thefts Rattle US City, GPS, CCTV Of No Help, Many Cops Quit

A US city with a population of 45,000 near the Canadian border is troubled by bicycle thieves.

Bicycle Thefts Rattle US City: A US city with a population of 45,000 near the Canadian border is troubled by bicycle thieves. For the last few months, incidents of bicycle theft are a daily thing here. Bicycles are being stolen from homes, garages, markets, and just everywhere. Many cycles have been stolen up to 6-6 times. The University of Vermont has asked its students to beware of bicycle theft.

GPS TRACKERS ARE BEING INSTALLED IN CYCLES

Since June, 220 cycles of university students have been stolen, which cost around Rs 2.5 crore. To catch the thief, the people of the city have installed GPS trackers in their cycles and CCTV cameras in their homes.

COPS TROUBLED BY THE THEFT, LEAVE POLICE JOBS

The incidents of bicycle theft are so high that even the policemen are fed up. They are getting their transfer done in other departments. Some even quit their jobs. Policemen from other departments are not ready to come here. When the police could not solve the incidents of bicycle theft, the people of the city formed Facebook groups to catch the thieves and recover the bicycles at their own level.

4% of the city’s population is connected to this Facebook group. Julie Williams, the city’s former mayor, runs the Betty Bicycle Company. She says that she gets 5-6 calls every day about cycle theft. She herself has joined the social media group.

BICYCLES FOUND LYING IN THE FOREST

Police say that there was not a single shooting incident in this city in 30 years, but after frequent incidents of bicycle theft, crime has increased in the city since people have started policing themselves.