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How can you get your bicycle back if it is stolen in Denmark?

The Local (news@thelocal.com)
The Local ([email protected])
How can you get your bicycle back if it is stolen in Denmark?
You can improve your chances of retrieving a stolen bicycle by reporting its frame serial number to police. File photo: Søren Bidstrup/Ritzau Scanpix

Copenhagen Police have issued advice to cyclists after finding bicycles which appear to be stolen but cannot be traced to their owners.

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A bicycle cannot be proven as stolen if the owner has not reported its theft to police and provided a frame serial number, Copenhagen Police say.

The advice from law enforcement in the city comes after a tipoff over a suspected cycle thief in the Amager area of the city, police state.

A large number of bicycles were discovered at an address following to tipoff, but could not prove they were stolen because their frame numbers were not registered in police databases.

This also resulted in the suspected thief facing fewer charges than they may otherwise have done.

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Frame numbers are often not reported for the simple reason that the owner never made a record of the number, police say.

READ ALSO: Everything you need to know about buying and riding a bicycle in Denmark

“Take a close-up photo of your bicycle’s frame number and keep it along with your [purchase] receipt,” police inspector Peter Reisz of Copenhagen Police’s theft unit said in the statement.

“Keep this information in a place where you can find it again, so that you can report it to police if you need to register your bicycle as stolen,” he said.

The case of the stolen bicycles on Amager is not unique, he noted.

“I think most people would appreciate how dissatisfying it is when you as an officer have to leave a bicycle where it is even though it is highly likely to be stolen. If you remember to keep the frame number, you help us to prosecute the culprit and not least yourself to have a chance of getting the bicycle back,” he said.

Electric bike owners are advised to take a photo of the battery and battery serial number on their machine.

In addition to frame and serial numbers, other information including the brand, model and colour of the bicycle can be provided to police when reporting a bike theft.

Bicycle thefts can be reported at police stations, on the 114 non-emergency phone line and via the police website.

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