The municipality of Midden-Drenthe will equip the station area in Beilen with cameras. These are intended to combat the increasing number of bicycle thefts and vandalism.
“We think the situation there is becoming less safe, there are a lot of bicycle thefts,” says acting mayor Cees Bijl. “There is a relatively high chance that your bicycle will be stolen, which does not give you a good feeling. Public transport must be safe.”
In the last four months of 2022, bicycle thieves struck 101 times at the station, a year earlier that was 51 times and at the end of 2020, 24 bicycles were stolen. “A lot of electric bicycles have been stolen lately,” says Bijl.
Extra police checks could not prevent the wave of theft. Because it is not possible to have a police officer on patrol day and night, the municipality has now opted for camera surveillance. Bijl: “This is an easy technical aid to keep an eye on the situation day and night.”
The cameras will initially be used for two months. The intention is to work preventively in the first place, but images can also be used in the detection of bicycle thieves. In the meantime, according to Bijl, other measures are being discussed with the NS, such as extra guarded bicycle sheds and lockers.