The question
Could you please provide this information about bike and scooter thefts in Wellington City:
- How many bikes and scooters have been reported stolen over the past five years, broken down year by year?
- Of those reported thefts, how many have been recovered?
- And of those reported thefts, how many have resulted in an arrest?
The OIA response
Data covers the Wellington area within Police’s Wellington District. A “proceeding” counts each separate occasion when Police deal with an offender for one or more offences, classified by the most serious offence.
Table 1. Bicycles reported stolen, recovered, and proceeded against in the Wellington area, 2021–2025
| Bicycles | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stolen | 101 | 202 | 151 | 224 | 291 | 969 |
| Recovered | 9 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 28 |
| Proceeded Against | 13 | 13 | 9 | 15 | 18 | 68 |
Table 2. Scooters reported stolen, recovered, and proceeded against in the Wellington area, 2021–2025
| Scooter | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stolen | 21 | 32 | 49 | 51 | 77 | 230 |
| Recovered | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Proceeded Against | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 20 |
Data is drawn from a dynamic operational database and is subject to change as new information is recorded or updated.
The data is a count of items reported as stolen to Police. Police may also discover and seize stolen items that aren’t included in this data because they were never reported. Police pointed to Operation Trump Card, which led to the recovery of 285 bicycles that aren’t included in these figures.
a lil description so people can find it
This Official Information Act response from New Zealand Police provides five years of data on bike and scooter thefts in the Wellington area — covering reports, recoveries, and Police proceedings against offenders from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2025. Bike thefts have risen sharply over the period, from 101 in 2021 to 291 in 2025, while scooter thefts have nearly quadrupled from 21 to 77. Recovery rates are vanishingly small: just 28 of 969 reported bikes (2.9%) and 2 of 230 scooters (0.9%) were recovered. The data is limited to items reported to Police via the operational database and excludes stolen items seized by Police that were never reported by their owners — for example, Operation Trump Card recovered 285 bikes that don’t appear in these figures.
