ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. — The Atlantic Beach Police Department has a New Year’s resolution – getting more stolen bikes back to their owners.
The department has started a new database so that if you lose your bike or it’s stolen, it’ll be easier to recover.
Bike owners can input their serial number, pictures of the bike and contact information.
The department says most serial numbers are etched underneath the bottom bracket of the frame, but they can also be found on the head tube, seat tube or rear dropout
“I haven’t been able to get to work, other than walking, so it takes a long time," said Alayna Blake, who recently had her bike stolen.
Alayna Blake has started her new year doing a lot more walking than she planned.
She says her bike was stolen right out of her front yard in her neighborhood near the Intracoastal Waterway.
“It was pretty upsetting," said Blake. "Hey, you know, I guess I’ll lose some weight for winter walking to work.”
Blake made sure to take down her bike’s serial number and take some pictures of it.
That’s what the Atlantic Beach Police Department wants bike owners to do so they can add it to the new online database.
That way if Blake’s bike turns up in Atlantic Beach, the police will know right away it’s hers.
“It’s just an easy way for someone to register a bike while they have that serial number available and they’re thinking about and it’s stored electronically for many years to come," said Atlantic Beach Police Chief Victor Gualillo.
Gualillo says they’ve had 125 bikes reported stolen in the past three years.
Only 14 owners knew the bike’s serial number.
“A fairly small number of people hold onto that serial number, so it’s harder for us to identify that bicycle in the street," said Gualillo.
Gualillo says if you're having a hard time finding the serial number, a bike's manual will tell you where it is on the bike.
The department also has a room full of found bicycles that have gone unclaimed.
If those serial numbers were reported in the department’s new database, they may be back with their owners, rather than sitting in a room at the station.
“We’ve been doing bike rentals for 13 years and we’ve had hundreds of bikes stolen," said Beach Life Rentals Owner Curt DeWitt.
DeWitt says stolen bikes is an unfortunate part of owning a bike rental business near the beach.
He plans to register his bikes in the new registry to help his odds of finding them if they’re stolen in the future.
“It never hurts," said DeWitt. "We have had some back, which is better than zero.”
You can find the new database here. Click on the Atlantic Beach Resident Bicycle Registration tab.