LAPD, Councilmember Blumenfield Announce Bike Theft Recovery Program

WOODLAND HILLS — Los Angeles City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield and the Los Angeles Police Department announced on Wednesday, September 30, a new citywide program to help track and recover stolen and lost bikes. 

The department has partnered with Bike Index, a non-profit organization that has an online bicycle registry platform. 

“The goal of this partnership is to benefit the Los Angeles community by increasing law enforcement’s ability to recover lost or stolen bicycles,” LAPD said in a news release. “Bicycle owners can voluntarily register their bikes for free with LAPD on Bike Index, and trusted law-enforcement users will be able to contact registrants when their bikes are found.”

Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who represents a number of city neighborhoods including Woodland Hills, has been working with the LAPD on the issue of stolen bikes for a few years. Blumenfield said LAPD has told him the main difficulty with stolen bicycles is the fact that they are not registered.

“The theft of a bicycle can be devastating to people who rely on their bike as their primary means of transportation,” Blumenfield said in a video. “Under this program, LAPD sees a bicycle they believe is stolen. They’ll be able to easily use the Bike Index to check whether a theft has been reported and who the bike actually belongs to.”

Bike owners should register their bikes at the Bike Index website after creating an account. The only information needed to add a bicycle to Bike Index is the serial number, photos and any other identifying information.

If the bike is then stolen, people should first file a police report at the LAPD Community Online Reporting Service website. After that, they should go to Bike Index and mark their bike as stolen. 

“Bike Index will notify pawn shops, riders, and other organizations to be on the look out for the missing bicycle,” LAPD added. “Bike Index’s free community outreach tools will assist and complement LAPD’s recovery efforts, and this process immediately increases the chances of a stolen or lost bicycle being reunited with the rightful owner.”

“With your help, we can make this program a success,” Blumenfield said. “We can cut down on thefts and make Los Angeles a better place to be a bike rider.”