Crime & Safety
New Hermosa Beach PD Initiative Takes Aim At Bike Thefts
The Hermosa Beach Bike Registry asks bicycle owners to register through the City website so officers can identify and return stolen bikes.
Press release from the City of Hermosa Beach:
April 8, 2021
Hermosa Beach Police Department (HBPD) today announced a new initiative that takes aim at local bicycle thefts by making it easier for bike owners to get their bikes back if they are stolen.
Find out what's happening in Hermosa Beachfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The HBPD is partnering with Project 529, developers of a registration, reporting and recovery network called the 529 Garage, to launch the Hermosa Beach Bike Registry. The HBPD is asking bicycle owners to register their bikes through the City’s website link or on the Project 529 Garage app so that law enforcement can identify and return their bicycles if they are stolen and recovered.
HBPD is also partnering with Hermosa Beach bike shops to ensure new bikes are registered when they’re purchased. If a bike is stolen, residents can immediately report it by using the local 529 Garage app or the City’s website link to Project 529. Bike thefts can also be reported on the HPBD’s online report system or by calling HBPD at (310) 318-0360.
Find out what's happening in Hermosa Beachfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“Owners often don’t report bicycle thefts, so we have no way of proving a bicycle is stolen if it’s found, and no way of knowing where to return a stolen bicycle when we recover it,” said HBPD Lieutenant Dorothy Scheid. “Registering bicycles and reporting bike thefts will make it possible for law enforcement to identify bicycles as stolen and return them to their owners when they’re recovered.”
According to Project 529, a bicycle is stolen every 30 seconds in North America but only one in five stolen bikes are reported to law enforcement. As a result, Project 529 estimated that thousands of bikes go to auction each year because the police cannot identify the owners. In Hermosa Beach, about 150 bicycle thefts were reported last year, and the HBPD sent 147 bicycles to auction due to not being able to locate the owners of the bicycles.
“Our goal is to make Hermosa Beach a much safer place to own and ride a bicycle,” said HBPD Chief Paul LeBaron.
This press release was produced by the City of Hermosa Beach. The views expressed here are the author's own.