After signs of success the Corvallis Police Department is expanding its bait bike program.
The program began in 2017 as a growing effort to prevent bicycle theft. A bait bike is trackable by GPS by police, so when a thief is in the process of stealing a bike law enforcement can intervene before anything is actually stolen. It’s nearly impossible to catch someone after a bike has been taken.
Corvallis began its program after seeing its success in other Oregon cities. EPD Lieutenant Wayne Dorman says Eugene’s program took off last year and has been a good strategy for preventing property crime.
“The majority of people that we’ve arrested have a long history of property crimes. And so we feel good that we’re arresting people that are impacting the community on a regular basis.”
Nearly 300 bicycles are reported stolen in Corvallis each year.