Bicycle theft is continuing to explode nationwide and police are generally helpless to curtail it

Bicycle thieves have been more active than usual this year, according to figures from Statistics Denmark.

During the first six months of 2009, police received 35,849 reports of bicycle theft, meaning eight bikes were stolen every hour. The half-year figure is the highest in nine years, and only five out of 1000 thefts are ever solved by police.

Once a two-wheeler has been stolen, it is extremely difficult to retrieve it again, inspector Lars Bræmhøj of Southern Jutland Police told JydskeVestkysten newspaper.

‘Bikes are often left in a place where there is nothing to indicate who the perpetrator is,’ said Bræmhøj.
The country's insurance companies have already awarded compensation amounting to around 100 million kroner to bicycle theft victims in the first six months of this year.

‘Bicycle theft has become more expensive for us, either due to the fact that thieves are consciously going after quality or because people are purchasing better bikes,’ said Christian Skødt of the Danish Insurance Association.

As part of a theft prevention programme, the City of Copenhagen recently gave away thousands of free computer chips that can allow bicycles to be traced if they are stolen. However, no figures regarding the success or failure of the campaign have yet been compiled.