Getting creative to help recover bikes: An ode to serial numbers

Police Officer Robert Pickett
(File photo © Jonathan Maus)

Police Officer Robert Pickett passes on the news that thew newly formed Southeast Precinct Neighborhood Enhancement Team, with help from the SE Precinct Bicycle Patrol, has uncovered a stash of stolen property.

“The loot” he says, includes nine “well-loved bicycles”.

Unfortunately, when he ran the serial numbers, none of them were registered.

Being a bicycle lover himself (up until recently he was a leader of the SE Bike Patrol unit), the situation has inspired his creativity and he sent me the following ode to serial numbers…

Serial Number Love
–by Robert Pickett

How do we love our bikes?

We clean them, we light them, we buy that comfortable seat. We buy the rack, we attach the fenders, we wrap the reflective tape. Clipless pedals, single-speed hubs, computers, u-locks, mini tool bags, drop bars on mountain frames.

We make everything just so, like constructing a best friend. And then we ride.

Last week the newly-formed Southeast Precinct Neighborhood Enhancement Team, with some help from the Southeast Precinct Bicycle Patrol, uncovered a stash of stolen property.

The loot included nine well-loved bicycles. They were not fresh from the showroom, they were not rusted relics. They were good bikes, all lovingly adorned or slightly altered in the ways described above, all clearly daily-use steeds.

Only one had received the simplest expression of love, however, the kiss that allows the police to return lost friends to their owners. Only one had a serial number listed in the national database of stolen property.

A serial number is not required to report your bicycle stolen to the police, but it is by far the most important bit of information you can provide. It is quick and easy for any officer to ask dispatchers via radio to compare the serial number from a suspected stolen bicycle with the ones listed in the database. Physical descriptions are good too, but there are simply too many bicycles stolen and too many officers scattered among various precincts to efficiently and reliably disseminate that information.

Without the proof of ownership that the serial number provides, the police must often let hot bikes slip through their fingers. Last week the Neighborhood Enhancement Team also executed a search warrant on a suspected drug dealer’s house. Along with the hoped-for drug paraphernalia, the house contained five bicycles. We ran the serial numbers and one of them, a tandem, had been reported stolen. We took it back to the precinct. The others were clear, so we had to leave them there, though our guts were screaming that they must have been stolen too. It was maddening.

To avoid this fate, Pickett says everyone who rides a bike should:

1. Locate the serial number on your bicycle (usually on the bottom of the bottom bracket), and write it down. There. Two minutes. Serial Number Love. Easier than installing a bike light.
2. Tattoo the number onto your body. Or just keep it someplace else that is safe. If your bicycle is stolen, make a report to the police that includes the serial number. It will automatically be entered into the stolen property database.
3. You might also take a digital photo of your bike and save it on your computer. A picture is easier for people to remember if you wanted to post fliers about your missing bike or give it to used bicycle shops. It also makes a more effective listing for finetoothcog.com or other online stolen bicycle listing sites.

As for the bikes Pickett and his team have recovered. Here are brief descriptions. If any of them sound familiar, please call Officer Pickett at Southeast Precinct (503-823-2143) and provide more details to prove the stolen bike is yours. Then, he’ll arrange for you to come and get it.

#1 Diamondback Outlook
#2 Novara Carema Pro
#3 Scott Speedster 10
#4 Raleigh Passage 3.5
#5 Trek Multitrack 7200
#6 Gary Fisher Wingra
#7 Mongoose IBOC

And stay tuned for more writing from Officer Pickett…