New bicycle registration program aims to increase stolen bicycle recoveries

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU/KTVF) - The Fairbanks Police Dept. (FPD) has launched a new bicycle registration program meant to make it easier for victims of theft to be reunited with their property.

The program, created by Cpl. Harrison, will process many stolen bicycle reports. According to the FPD, it’s difficult to return recovered bicycles to their rightful owners due to owners not knowing the serial number or detailed information.

Ronnie Maynard, who works at the bike shop in Beaver Sports, said he thinks the program will be a benefit to the community. “Just from what I see around town, there’s been a lot of bike thefts and then working here in the bike shop and Beaver Sports, we have people call in once or twice a week asking if we have serial numbers for the bike,” he explained.

Based on reports taken in by FPD during the months of June, July and August, there have been about 35 cases of bicycle theft, some of which were felonies as the stolen property was valued at over $750.

“We get people in here sometimes who you kind of have an idea that they have stolen the bike and they’ll strip the bike down, replace the parts, and they’ll spray paint the frame so it’s kind of hard to say for sure and reconnect that bike with the owner because there’s no identifying features when they first got the bike,” Maynard said. He added that he had a bicycle stolen in High School that took him months to save up for. " I wasn’t able to purchase another bike for quite some time, couple years and it really set me back so I can only feel for other people in the community who have to go through the same thing."

In an email FPD sent out to local bike shops, they said the “goal is to provide a carbon copy registration form along with a registration sticker [customers] can place anywhere on the bike.” This comes as a free service offered by the FPD in partnership with bike shops in Fairbanks, allowing residents to register the bike as soon as they buy it.

On Friday, that program brought excitement to a customer at Beaver Sports according to Maynard. “I told them, hey, we’re starting this new thing with FPD, and they were excited for it because he actually had recently gotten a bike stolen, so I think the community is going to be stoked on it and it’s going to be it’s a very positive thing overall,” he said.

Registration forms include information such as serial numbers, name of the owner, address and other information about the bicycle. Once the carbon-copy form is filled, customers receive a registration sticker that has a matching number to the form they filled out.

Residents can also register their bikes online or in-person with FPD by visiting their station or their website.

Participating bike shops currently include, REI, Beaver Sports, Goldstream Sports and Bankstown Bike and Ski.

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