City of Fremantle’s Community Safety Team will be giving out free D-locks in an effort to reduce bike theft.
The ‘Lock down on bike theft’ campaign will focus on Fremantle’s city centre and run until April.
The project is a collaboration between Fremantle Police and the City of Fremantle. A similar initiative by the Public Transport Authority was rolled out at Fremantle Train Station during February.
Community Safety Team Leader Christopher Scanlan said the D-lock campaign aimed to reduce bike theft by half.
“We’ll approach cyclists find out what kind of bike lock they are using and then offer a D-lock in exchange for their old lock.
“D-locks have been proven to be quite robust and they can only be removed using a cutting device or saw whereas a standard bike cable can be cut within 10 or 15 seconds using a standard cutting device.
“Locking your bike with a D-lock is going to improve safety, make it harder for people to steal and act as a deterrent.”
Mayor Brad Pettitt said because Fremantle was such a bike friendly community, residents needed to take extra precautions.
“Fremantle has a huge cycling community but unfortunately that can mean we are sometimes a target for bike thefts.
“We are actively working to prevent bike theft with this campaign which will encourage more people to cycle regularly.”
Fremantle Police Investigations Manager, Phil Gazzone, said, “It’s really positive to see the joining of forces between Fremantle Police and the City of Fremantle to collaboratively tackle this crime type.”
