Dozens of bicycles were stolen in Wilmette, Winnetka and Glencoe last year. While police made several arrests and recovered a number of bikes, many more were never found.

The above map shows incidents that happened in 2011. Many locations were home to multiple thefts, with about five stolen at both the Kenilworth Metra and Linden CTA stations and nearly a dozen bikes stolen from the Wilmette Metra station. There’s no regular security at Wilmette’s Metra station and while the village applied for a grant to purchase security cameras at its Metra station years ago, it fell through.

Earlier: North Shore Bike Thieves Nabbed

“There are some Metra stations that have camera systems, ours doesn’t,” said Wilmette Police Commander Patrick Collins. “That would be a major expense. We’re still looking for grant opportunities but today’s grant market is pretty competitive.”

No matter where you’re parking your bike, there are ways you can make it less likely to be stolen. Collins offered a series of tips from the village’s bike safety program.

• Use two locks: a U-lock and a heavy duty cable. Professional thieves can cut through the cables with bolt cutters and the U-locks with grinders, but the extra time required to do both makes your bike an unappealing target.
• If you don’t have two locks, detach the front tire and lock it in with your back tire. Again, this will cost thieves time because they’ll have to reassemble the bike after breaking the lock.
• Always lock your bike to a rack. If it’s locked to a poll or post, thieves can remove it from the ground and slide your bike out.
• If your bike has a detachable seat, take it with you. “That often deters your bike thieves because they don’t want to take a ride down the road without a seat,” Collins said.
• Always lock your bike, even if you’re only gone a short time or are leaving it in your garage.

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