A gutted bicycle on the Landwehr Canal Photo: picture-alliance / Global Travel
From BZ/dpa
The number of bicycle thefts in Berlin is almost back to the level it was before the corona pandemic.
This emerges from a parliamentary question by MP Vasili Franco (Greens), which was first reported by the “Tagesspiegel”. According to this, 12,490 bicycles were stolen in the first half of 2022, compared to around 9,640 in the same period last year. Before the outbreak of the pandemic, there were almost 12,890 bicycles in the first six months of 2019.
Bicycle thieves have been particularly common this year in the Pankow district (1962 bicycles). The district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg followed closely behind with 1912 thefts.
In Mitte it was 1857 in the same period. The amount of damage for the past year was estimated at 22 million euros. In 2019 it was still around 20.5 million euros.
Figures for the current year are not yet available. According to the information, the average damage for individual bicycle owners is now 890 euros.
With a view to this, the Green MP Franco criticizes the low clear-up rate of the police, which was 4.6 percent in 2021. “So far it has been more or less left to chance whether a theft is solved,” he said on Saturday. The aim must be comprehensive coding of the wheels, said Franco.
Above all, however, targeted police checks are necessary at the theft hotspots, for example with undercover investigators. “Bicycle thieves are often professionals. That’s why we have to look at how we can get at them and also take a closer look at organized crime and its business models,” explained the Greens politician.