The Southeast Precinct of the Portland Police Bureau have started a bike theft awareness campaign.
Officers have been standing on the Hawthorne Bridge in the early morning and passing out forms for cyclists to fill out and return to them. According to one cyclist, who was stopped last Tuesday at 6:30 AM, the form asks for your driver’s license number, name, address, phone number and date of birth. It also asks for a thorough description of your bicycle including the approximate value and serial number.
The form also contain this message:
“That we may better assist you in locating your bicycle, should you ever have the unfortunate experience of being the victim of theft, please take the time to fill out this information sheet and put it with your personal files at home.”
I was surprised to hear about this because there was no mention of it when bike theft was discussed at a recent open house forum with the LDTMA and Northeast precinct officers. Bike theft is a huge and growing problem in Portland and so far I haven’t heard of any solid solutions from law enforcement so I’m anxious to learn more about this campaign. I’ve got emails and calls into the police bureau and I’ll keep you posted.