Trend of summer Saskatoon bike thefts cycles ever upward

The Saskatoon Police Serviceis reporting a small spike in bike thefts in the city, compared to the same period last year.

Since May 1, 303bicycles have been stolen, compared to 279 during the same period last year.

Back in 2013, the months of June and July saw 150 bikes stolen.

• Bike thefts way up in Saskatoon

"Bike theft continues to be a problem in Saskatoon," according to a police news release issued Thursday afternoon.

To help with the recovery of stolen bikes, the police service is again reminding people to record their bicycle'sserial number. The number is used to match a bike recovered by police to one that was reported stolen.

Police have re-released a diagram ofthe areas of a bicyclewhere owners can likely find theserial number.

The police service addedit is in the process of launching an online bike registry that will allow cyclists to register their bike'sserial numberonline on the force'swebsite or using theSPS mobile app on iOS or Android devices.

The information will only be used by police in the event the bike is lost or stolen.

While the Saskatoon Police Service's online crime map does not specifically track bike thefts, it does monitor thefts under $5,000.

From May 1 to June 5, 2017, thefts under that categorywere recorded throughout the city, though they were most densely clustered in areas such as the downtown core and 8th Street.