The Port Alberni RCMP Community Policing Unit will be hosting another bike registration event this Saturday, Nov. 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Canadian Tire. Bike owners need to bring their bicycle as well as some government-issued photo identification with them.
Project 529 is a bicycle registration program that helps bike owners register the details of their bikes on a database and acts as a deterrent to would-be thieves. Owners are provided with a tamper resistant shield that visibly and uniquely identifies their bicycle.
Registration only takes five minutes and it’s free. Project 529, also referred to as 529 Garage, helps members of the cycling community by enabling recovered stolen bikes to be identified back to their rightful owners.
“All too often owners of stolen bikes don’t have their bike’s unique identifiers therefore aren’t able to provide the police with this necessary information. This makes it very difficult to find their stolen bike and get it back to them,” says Port Alberni RCMP Cpl. Amelia Hayden.
“With Project 529, with your bike’s information and photos stored on the database, should your bicycle be stolen you now have the advantage of having participants in the Project 529 program also looking for your bike, increasing the odds of finding it.”
For more information on Project 529 www.project529.com/portalbernircmp.
Anyone with information on bicycle theft and those responsible is asked to contact the Port Alberni RCMP at 250-723-2424 or Alberni Valley Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).