CrimeBeat: What do police do with unclaimed bikes?

CrimeBeat Q&A is a weekly feature where police reporter Julie Johnson answers readers' questions about local crimes and the law.

What do police departments do with stolen or abandoned bicycles?

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Guns are destroyed. High-value items like vehicles can be sold at auction.

Bicycles are usually donated.

“Most bikes in our bike barn are not in great shape,” said Officer Kerri Neve, who runs the property evidence division.

The bike barn is actually a secure shed the size of a small garage behind the Petaluma Boulevard North station. Each month, evidence technicians and officers add about five bicycles to the shed. Most are unclaimed and eventually donated.

Neve said bikes are held for certain waiting periods that vary depending on how the bike came into police custody. Bikes taken as evidence in an investigation can be given back to an individual or donated after a 60-day appeal period that starts when the case is resolved.

Police also hold bikes for safekeeping when they belong to someone serving time in jail or a person hospitalized after a crash. Bikes marked “found” or “safekeeping” are set aside for donation only after they sit unclaimed for 90 days.

High-end bicycles worth more than $1,000 will go to auction, but those are rare.

Last year police donated about 60 bicycles. Just one went to auction.

Most bikes will never be claimed by a rider - and are in rough shape.

They're probably “the bike left unattended at school or on the street, in an open garage,” police volunteer coordinator Jennifer Parsons-Pritchard said. “Most of the bikes need some kind of work.”

After bicycles are set aside for donation, Parsons-Pritchard takes over. She works with a retired firefighter who repairs the bikes. Then she gives the bikes to a local Sonoma County group, often one that works with low income families and at-risk youth.

Keep records of your bike if you want it returned. Document its serial number and take photographs.

Some cities have bicycle registry programs, and Petaluma is creating one that should debut later this year.

“The likelihood of us being able to get a back bike to you will be much higher,” Parsons-Pritchard said.

The Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition recommends people register bicycles at https://bikeindex.org/stolen.

Submit your questions about crime, safety and criminal justice to Staff Writer Julie Johnson at julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.