SAFETY TIPS : The Bicycle Thieves : They’re becoming more brazen, warn police officers, who offer tips on how to keep hold of that expensive new toy.

It’s a sad tale police officers hear all the time, especially after Christmas.

The brand-new $300 mountain bike was parked in front of the video store for just a minute. Then it vanished. Whoosh.

No, it wasn’t locked, the frantic kid tells the cops. No, it wasn’t licensed. No, the serial number isn’t written down somewhere. The color? Kind of a light blue, maybe aqua.

Bike theft has risen the past couple of years, along with the cost of a good bike. Thieves have become more brazen, police in Ventura County report. They steal from porches and open garages.

The best defense against theft, they say, is to get a lock and use it no matter what.

“The appearance of a lock is real effective,” said Randy White, a crime prevention specialist with the Simi Valley Police Department. But what usually happens, he and other police say, is that kids too often won’t bother to lock up the bike. They’ll only be a few minutes, they reason. Or, they believe that no one would steal their bike in a public place such as the mall.

Not so, White said. “There is nothing unusual about a person getting on a bike and riding away,” he said.

In fact, bike thefts occur most often at shopping centers, he said, usually during the summer when kids are on vacation. The second most popular spot is at home in the front yard or from an open garage. Mountain bikes, which start at about $300, are the preferred targets.

In 1989, 285 bikes were reported stolen in Simi Valley. In 1990 the number jumped to 409 and the projection for 1991 is 420. In Oxnard the numbers were even higher: 584 in 1989, 632 in 1990 and 626 in 1991.

As for bicycle locks, some are more effective than others. Combination locks are easier to pry open than key-operated locks, White said. For the best protection against the sophisticated thief with a bolt cutter, serious bikers go for the U-shaped bar lock made of hardened steel that can’t be cut, police and bike store owners report. They cost $25 to $35.

Run the lock through the bike frame, they advise, and for the best protection, take off the front wheel and lock it with the frame.

What if even the best protection fails? If the bike is licensed, the chances of ever seeing it again are greater. Cities in the county have their own procedures for licensing.

Whether it’s mandatory or voluntary is a fuzzy area. Some cities, such as Simi Valley and Oxnard, have a licensing requirement on the books but don’t enforce it actively.

“We don’t go looking for these people,” said the Oxnard Police Department’s David Keith. “I doubt any city does.”

To obtain a license, bike owners usually must provide the following information: serial number, manufacturer, model, type, color, wheel size and frame size. The owner gets a license number in the form of a sticker that goes on the bike, along with another sticker that shows the expiration date.

The license and serial number go into a statewide computer system. If the bike is stolen and then recovered, the police have a way of tracking down the owner.

In Simi Valley the Police Department licensed about 600 bikes in 1991. During that year, 30 stolen bikes were recovered and returned to their owners.

Licensing isn’t foolproof. Stickers can be peeled off. Some thieves remove a bike’s serial number to avoid detection. To guard against that, Simi Valley police pound another identifying number in an obscure place on the frame. Even if that number is removed, police have a way of raising the missing numbers, White said.

Licenses cost $1 in Simi Valley and renewal every two years is 50 cents. Most cities have similar rates. Some provide licensing through the fire department, and in some areas bike shops are authorized to handle licensing. Some cities, such as Port Hueneme, provide licensing services at the schools every year.

In Ventura, bike owners can obtain licenses through the city treasurer’s office at City Hall, or they can go to any city fire station on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.

At the very least, bike owners should record the bike’s serial number and keep it handy, advised Russ Hayes, an officer with Ventura’s crime prevention unit.

“Our bike recovery locker is loaded with unclaimed bikes,” he said. “If the owners don’t record the serial number, there is no way of tracing back.” Twice a year a load of bikes is auctioned off, he said, just because the department can’t locate the owner.

He suggested that owners make a special identifying mark on their bikes, or even hide their name and address somewhere on the bike, such as inside the handle bars.

Jon Avery, owner of Open Air Bicycles in Ventura, advised adults to engrave their California driver license numbers on the bike. That way, even if the bike isn’t licensed, police can still track down the owner.

Avery also has some tips for bike owners who find themselves without their locks when they need to make a stop.

Try disengaging the chain. If someone tries to ride the bike away, the chain won’t work. Or, open up the toe straps on the bike and wrap them around the frame. Another approach is to open the brakes wide and adjust the shifting lever so that it will jump gears if ridden. Or take the front wheel off and carry it with you.

Avery has another tip for those who keep their bikes in the garage. Lock the bike to something inside the garage, and then lock the garage door.

Mark Boltinhouse, owner of Mark’s Conejo Cyclery in Thousand Oaks, licenses bikes at his shop. He plans to get other bike shop owners in the east end of Ventura County and in the west end of Los Angeles County to license them as well in hopes of establishing a tighter way of tracking thefts. He also computerizes bike theft records in the Thousand Oaks area for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department on a voluntary basis.

Boltinhouse is a firm believer in licensing. One of his employees had a bike stolen and it turned up three years later in Santa Barbara County. When police ran the serial number through the computer, it tracked to the rightful owner.

“We had all given up on the bike, and it was worth more than $1,000,” he said.

TAKING OUT LICENSES

For bicycle licensing information, call:

Camarillo: 482-9844

Fillmore: 524-2233

Moorpark: 494-8200

Ojai: 646-1414

Oxnard: 984-4617

Port Hueneme: 986-6530

Santa Paula: Licensing not available

Simi Valley: 583-6950

Thousand Oaks: 494-8200

Ventura: 654-7800