Electronic markers which can pinpoint a stolen bike and its parts are about to hit Bermuda as Police seek new methods to slash vehicle crime.

Vehicle Crime Unit head Detective Sergeant Terry Maxwell said the technology, similar to a global positioning systems, would eventually replace U-marking which have failed to take off with the public.

?We have a new product we are trying to bring to the Island in the next couple of months,? said Det. Sgt. Maxwell.

?We are looking at a really excellent system from the UK to put on bikes. We are hoping it becomes mandatory.?

He said the tiny electronic transponders could be placed on hard-to-find locations on the bike.

?It?s excellent, it?s used widely in Britain and has reduced vehicle crime a lot. It?s fabulous.

?They are passive electronic signalling devices. It doesn?t signal until you want it to signal.

?It?s triggered by us and we can scan for it. There are a number of transponders and it uses a microdot system.?

He said he could not reveal all the details about the set-up but said they would likely cost around $150 for a one-off purchase. He said bike theft had fallen by more than 200 last month compared to the same time last year. ?We are at about 460 down from 780.?

High-profile stop and searches were deterring people, said Det. Sgt. Maxwell, along with the move to larger four-stroke bikes which had yet to produce a large market for stolen parts. That day, however, would come.

?Kids love the Honda Scoopy, that?s incredibly popular.?

He said the new look on the old classic had sparked a craze for stolen parts while other big targets for the thieves were the Yamaha V80s and V50s and Suzukis.

Bikes could be stripped in 15 minutes by people without expert knowledge or elaborate tools, he said, and the parts sold for cash or exchanged for drugs while the remains were dumped in the ocean or in shrubs.

?There?s no need to run the risk of being caught on the bike or at home because they can be ripped apart. With an adjustable wrench and two screwdrivers you can strip a bike down.?

Bike theft in Bermuda was generally an ad hoc, small time business, said Det. Sgt. Maxwell.

?We are not talking about chop shops like in the US, Canada or Britain.

?A lot of thefts are for convenience, where people steal to get a ride home late at night.

?I am sure they steal for parts because they are hard to come by or very expensive,? said Det. Sgt. Maxwell, who explained plastic panelling for a Scoopy could cost nearly $1,000.

He wants to change the culture where bike crime is socially acceptable with parents not bothering to ask where the bikes their kids worked on had come from.

The idea that insurance companies were well able to pick up the tab meant premiums went up for everyone, said Det. Sgt. Maxwell, while families and shift workers suddenly found themselves with massive problems when their vehicles went missing.

?It?s a nightmare, people forget about the damage done to the victims of crime, it can be incalculable,? said Det. Sgt. Maxwell, who urged the use of snake locks and break disc locks to augment handlebar locks which could easily be broken.

?It might be a nuisance to lock a bike in three ways but if you are serious you have to consider it,? said Det. Sgt. Maxwell, who recently returned to the unit after working on the Bermuda Housing Corporation investigation. He said Police would soon be launching another campaign for U-marking in which the vehicle registration was etched on to bike parts to allow them to be traced if found and also to deter criminals from targeting such bikes.

The markings were quickly put on at the Vehicle Crimes Compound at Prospect and did not scar the bike?s looks, said Det. Sgt. Maxwell. When visited, 13 such etchings were put on in less than four minutes ? no appointment is necessary.