From Decatur Police Lt. Jennifer Ross…
Since the beginning of the year there have been 77 reported bicycle thefts within the City of Decatur. There has been a noticeable increase in bicycle thefts since August 1, 2015. During this time there have been 38 bicycles stolen, 9 from the north side of Decatur and 29 from the south side of Decatur. Of the 38 stolen bicycles, 18 had been secured with some sort of locking mechanism, 9 were unsecured and 11 were stolen during a burglary of a garage or shed. There were 19 bicycle thefts during night time hours, 11 during the day, and 8 with a multi day time frame.
The majority of the thefts have occurred in the Oakhurst and Winnona Park neighborhoods. Of the 38 bicycles taken since August 1st, owners were only able to provide serial numbers for 7. It is important to keep record of the brand, model and serial numbers of all of your bicycles. Serial numbers for bicycles are most often stamped into the bottom of the frame or on a small metal placard on the bottom of the frame. Serial numbers are important because police can only enter stolen articles onto the national database if we are provided with the serial number for the item stolen.
You can also register your bicycle with the Decatur Police Department at one of our registration events. Bicycle registration includes providing owner contact information, having the manufacturer and serial number documented and having a numbered decal applied to and a photo taken of your bicycle. The process takes just a few minutes. Registering your bicycle allows officers to look up recovered bicycles and contact the owner and allows for us to quickly look up the needed information about your bicycle if it were to be stolen. The information is kept in a secured database only accessible by police department staff and there is NO CHARGE to register your bicycle.
The next bicycle registration will be held Friday, October 2, 2015 from 4pm-7pm at Columbia Theological Seminary, 701 South Columbia Drive, Decatur, GA 30030. We will be in the parking lot off of Kirk Road. Look for the blue tent.