Camera surveillance has had an effect in the fight against theft and vandalism of bicycles in the station area in Beilen. The nuisance is not completely over, however.
Figures from the municipality of Midden-Drenthe show that five bicycles have been stolen since the cameras were installed. In the same period a year earlier, there were sixteen. Incidentally, there is not only nicking around the station. In the whole of Beilen, 71 bicycles were stolen in the first half of this year, a year earlier thieves struck 120 times.
In February, the municipality of Midden-Drenthe decided to install temporary camera surveillance because bicycle thieves and vandals were increasingly striking in the station area. This also gnawed at the sense of security of local residents. “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,” said Cees Bijl, acting mayor of Central Drenthe, at the time.
And so he resorted to an ‘easy technical aid’ to counteract the nuisance. The cameras had little effect on the destruction of bicycles. This year, two bicycles were destroyed in the Beiler station area, a year earlier there were three.
See here what acting mayor Cees Bijl previously said about the thefts in Beilen: