Decatur Police Offer Free Bicycle Registration

Photo Credit: Decatur Police Department

With the rash of bicycle thefts in Decatur since the new year, police are offering local cyclists an opportunity to register their bicycles in a secure database which can help investigators recover stolen bikes and catch the thieves.

According to Decatur police spokeswoman Jennifer Ross, 12 bicycles have been stolen in the area since Jan. 1, but only two owners could provide police with a serial number of their stolen bike. Without the serial number, police have a very difficult time recovering stolen bikes and arresting the people who stole them.

To help stem the tide of the bicycle thefts, police are offering two free bicycle registration sessions in the coming weeks, Ross said. The first session will be held during the Touch-A-Truck event on March 7 at 120 West Trinity Place, with the second session coming during the inaugural Wednesday Decatur Farmer’s Market at First Baptist Church Decatur between 4 and 7 p.m. on March 25.

Bicycle registration is a quick and simple process. Officers will record the bicycle’s make, model, and serial number, get contact information from the bike’s owner, and then place a numbered decal on the bicycle and take a picture of it. All of this information will be fed into a police-only database that can be called up by officers investigating stolen bicycle cases, Ross said.

“We have had similar trends in recent years and been able to identify a suspect, make an arrest and recover multiple stolen bicycles because one owner provided us with their serial number,” Ross said.