From Decatur Police Sgt. Jennifer Ross…

Since January 1, 2015 there have been twelve reported bicycle thefts in the City of Decatur.  Bicycle owners were only able to provide serial numbers for two of the twelve stolen bicycles.   The majority of the thefts occurred in residential areas and all of the stolen bicycles were different brands.  Five were taken from a residential porch or under a deck, two were taken in a residential burglary and five were taken from commercial locations.  Five were unsecured but seven were secured in some manner.

Bicycle thieves count on owners not having record of their serial numbers and proceed to sell and pawn the bicycles.  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.

You can document the needed information yourself by jotting down the brand, model number, serial number and color of your bicycles and taking a photo of each of them.

You can also register your bicycle with the Decatur Police Department. Bicycle registration includes providing owner contact information, having the manufacturer, model number 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.

Decatur Police will be conducting bicycle registrations at two upcoming events in Decatur. There is NO CHARGE.

• #1: Touch-A-Truck – Saturday, March 7, 2015 from 10am-1pm in the Callaway Parking Lot located at 120 West Trinity Place.
• #2: Opening Day of the Wednesday Decatur Farmer’s Market on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 from 4pm – 7pm on the front lawn of the First Baptist Church Decatur located at 308 Clairemont Avenue.

If you have additional questions, please contact Sgt. Jennifer Ross at [email protected] or .

Decatur PD Sgt Jennifer Ross sends along this announcement…

Bicycle Registration and Bike Safety Event

Hosted by:  Decatur Heights Neighborhood Association

Join the Decatur Police Department and Decatur Active Living for a Bicycle Registration and Safety Event.

Register your bike, receive a helmet safety check, and ride the “safety course” to learn bike safety, hand signals, rules of the road.  Also, Bicycle South staff will be conducting bike checks.

If it rains, we will move from the parking lot to inside of the gym.

This event is offered FREE to the community! *Children must be accompanied by an adult.

When: Saturday, September 20th, 10 am – Noon
Where: The Church at Decatur Heights (735 Sycamore Drive)

For additional information, please contact [email protected] or [email protected]

Sgt Ross with Decatur PD sends along this info…

Decatur Police registered 79 bicycles at the 2nd Annual Decatur F. Ave Falcons’ Bike Derby on October 5th.  The purpose of registering your bicycle is in the event it is lost, found or stolen.  Bicycles have unique serial numbers that allow for police to enter stolen bicycles onto the stolen property database.  If the bicycle is later recovered, it can then be returned to its owner.  Bike registration also helps reunite abandoned bicycles with their owners.  If you are a city resident and wish to have your bicycle(s) registered with the Decatur Police Department, please contact Sgt. Dana Canipe at  or[email protected] .

If you do not wish to formally register your bicycle(s) with the police department, please document the make, model and serial numbers for your bicycles in the event it is lost or stolen.