Reported bike thefts in Boulder have declined since 2020, when property crime spiked in the city, according to recent data from the Boulder Police Department.
Thefts from January through August this year fell 13% compared with the same period last year, according to a Boulder Reporting Lab analysis of city data. That’s in line with the average annual decline over the past five years.
The reported value of stolen bikes still tops $1 million most years. Since 2020, people have reported about $10.6 million worth of bikes stolen in Boulder. The Boulder Police Department has recovered about $754,000 worth.
The Boulder City Council made bike security and theft reduction one of its official priorities for 2026 at its January retreat. The initiative sought to reduce bike theft, educate the public on bike security, expand bike registration and encourage secure bike parking across the city.
Making bike theft a council priority elevated its importance for the Boulder Police Department and kicked off a collaboration among police and the city’s transportation and facilities departments, city officials told councilmembers last week.
City officials said they wanted to reduce bike theft by 10% year over year and recover 10% of stolen bikes. A recent staff memo states thefts are down about 14% so far this year and puts the recovery rate at 13%. Publicly available city data puts the recovery rate closer to 9% so far this year.
City officials said they have focused on prevention. That includes providing resources for businesses about installing inverted U-shaped bike racks, which make it easier to lock a bike securely than many other types of racks.
Police also use bait bikes, which are left out with hidden GPS trackers. The city said police completed six targeted bike theft operations this year and arrested at least two people. The city released a video along with the memo showing an officer tackling a suspect who was adding air to a bike’s tires outside University Bikes.
City officials have said one of the most important steps residents can take is to record their bike’s serial number, photograph the bike and register it for free on Bike Index, a nonprofit bike registry. Officers can search the registry to find the owner of a recovered bike.
City data shows how much knowing the serial number matters. Since 2017, when police began publicly tracking whether a stolen bike’s serial number was reported, bikes with a reported serial number have been recovered 11% of the time, compared with 3% for bikes without a reported serial number.
Several councilmembers said they were glad to see bike thefts declining and hoped the trend would continue. City officials said the presentation wrapped up the formal, one-year project the council requested in January, but that work would continue.
“There’s so much more to be done and I’m worried that this is the end,” Mayor Pro Tem Tara Winer said during the council meeting.
