Having something stolen
It was a great day for a bike ride out to Glenelg beach via the bike route from the city. After a 9-kilometre journey with my partner, we locked our bikes up to a popular bike rack near the beach. We spent the next few hours looking around the suburb, walking along the beach, taking photos, and getting some lunch. After a great day out, we headed back to our bikes preparing ourselves for the ride back to the city only to find one of them was gone.
This is my second time encountering theft after my bag and wallet were stolen earlier this year (2020 has been an … interesting year for sure). However, not only has it been my first encounter with having something stolen, but also my first encounter with having to call the police and report a crime.
The bike lock we had used had been cut clean through with bolt cutters, there was a 3-4-hour window where this could have happened, and it was dark. Perhaps one of the strangest things about the theft is that mere hours before, whilst we were walking around the beach, we were joking about the long ride and how funny it would be if our bikes were gone and we had to walk back home. After getting over our disbelief and the irony of the situation we agreed to report the incident.
Unfortunately, as great as it is that we have services on hand to help us and report incidents, it was still a daunting experience. Calling the police made us wonder if we were doing the right thing? Worry if we were wasting their time? Worry that they would judge us? And these worries were over reporting a crime that is comparably less traumatic to other crimes such as assault. One thing we both learnt from the experience is that seeking help is nothing to fear. These services are there to support and take care of all citizens, we all have the right to these services and their help.
The bike was one of our more expensive possessions and something we were a bit sad to lose. Unfortunately, the police instructed us that the likelihood of finding the bike was very small. However, the experience and advice we received from the hotline was helpful and supportive. As worrisome as the whole incident was, I hope that next time we will both be even more comfortable to use these services for help and support.