Christer Öhrlund is the municipal police in Västerås and he says that reports of bicycle thefts have increased in recent years.
- Too many bicycles disappear. So far this year, 1,200 bicycle thefts have been reported. In 2019, 1800 bicycles were registered throughout the year. Prior to that, the number of bicycle thefts was between 1,600 and 1,700 per year.
Gustave Ntwari from Västerås is one of those affected. He was allowed to have his hybrid bike for almost six months before it was stolen outside his home on Önsta-Gryta.
- It feels really hard. I reported to the police but the investigation was closed because the police said that it was not possible to investigate, he says.
How come so few bicycle thefts are solved?
- I have no good answer to that. We encourage bicycle owners to report the theft and we use a search register so that we can find the latter. Bicycle theft is perhaps a low-priority crime on the part of the police, says Christer Öhrlund.