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Police set a few bikes out to steal By Jill Briskey If you�re a thief plotting to steal a bicycle in the city of Medford, you may want to consider another pastime. If police aren�t onto you yet, they soon could be, thanks to a bicycle theft prevention program. Hoping to cut the growing number of bike thefts, officers are cracking down on thieves by giving them an opportunity to steal decoy bikes that have been placed in high-crime areas. Medford Police Lt. Tim George won�t give away too many details about the program since he doesn�t want to tip off criminals. But he will say the effort already has yielded positive results. Last week, police arrested Shawn Dale Rittiman, 31, of 337 S. Grape St., after he attempted to steal a decoy bike from the Oakdale Minute Market. "He took the bait and took off with it," George said, smiling. "He sure didn�t plan it well." After a brief foot pursuit, police captured Rittiman and charged him with second-degree theft and possession of marijuana. "We thought we were going to lose this one," Officer Richard Renfro said of the pursuit. "That would have been a little embarrassing, but we got him." Rittiman pleaded guilty to the charges during his arraignment in front of a Jackson County judge last week. Renfro created the decoy program last year after looking at the figures � 380 bicycles were reported stolen in 1999. In Medford, at least one bike is reported stolen every day and 80 percent of them are lost forever, Renfro adds. Most stolen bikes range in value from $100 to $1,000. This is the third decoy operation set up by police and the first time officers were able to catch a crook, Renfro added. The bikes used in the program are ones that were recovered by the police department but have gone unclaimed. Officers are also hoping that bicycle owners will take a more aggressive role in the fight by locking up and licensing their bikes. George estimates that stolen bikes amounted to a $72,000 loss last year. He also guesses that an additional 100 to 150 bikes are ripped off every year but are never reported. "Look at the whole scope," Renfro said. "That�s a lot of money ... that�s a lot of crime." "That�s a substantial loss of property, not to mention that this is some people�s only method of transportation," George added. From organized efforts to random snatchings, George said bicycle thefts don�t seem to follow a pattern. "Some of these crimes are spur of the moment," he said. "If it�s a nice bike, sometimes the lock gets cut. If it�s a cheap bike leaning up against the wall, someone just takes it. There�s no rhyme or reason." Renfro said that some bikes are stolen by habitual drug users who are no longer allowed to drive. Others are stolen by users who sell or trade the bicycles for drugs, he added. Bicycle owners can make a dent in those figures by locking up their equipment when it�s not in use, George said. Many stolen bikes are recovered yet remain unclaimed, he adds. These bikes, which are stored inside the Medford City Shop, are auctioned off a year later when all attempts to find the owners fail, George said. Many owners do not identify their bikes in any way, making recovery almost impossible, George said. Often times, he added, officers will recover several bicycles of the same make, model and color. There�s just no way to know which one belongs to whom, George said. "Once we get a bike, there�s just no way to tell it apart from the dozens of others just like it," he said. In Medford, residents can license their bikes free of charge through the Medford Police Department in City Hall. Even if the sticker identifying the bicycle is removed, the department has a record of the bicycle�s serial number. "The chances of us getting them back are pretty good when they�re licensed," George said. There are even ways to recover the bike�s serial number if it has been scratched away, Renfro added. If nothing else, the decoy program may make criminals think twice before making a move, George adds. "You never know who might be watching," he advises. "When we come to get that bike back, you�re coming with us." Renfro said the purpose of the program isn�t necessarily to catch the criminals but to make them think twice. "This is proactive law enforcement as opposed to reactive," he said. "We want them to think that any bike could belong to the police, so you had better think twice." Reach reporter Jill Briskey at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.