The short answer is yes, but not by as much as you’d think. In the month leading up to Kenk’s July capture, Toronto’s alleged criminal bike boss and his posse of junior cycle snatchers went on a hoarding binge that would make a pack of rabid squirrels look lazy. It was the resulting spike in theft that caused cops in the city’s 14 Division (home to Kenk’s chop shop and 10 packed-to-the-rafters garages) to move in on the illegal op in the first place. Post-takedown, the district’s theft numbers dropped (63 stolen in August, compared with 98 in July), but not dramatically. The reason: Kenk’s capture served not only to reunite nearly 600 owners with their beloved bikes, but also to remind riders that taking time to report stolen cycles is not a futile endeavour. Nor is registering your two-wheeler, and 4,000 Torontonians did just that in July, compared with 500 registrations in all of May and June. Kenk wannabes might want to consider a career change.
• Question from Shannon Grigg in Roncesvalles
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