Love your bike? Register it with Saskatoon Police Service

Have you registered your bike with the Saskatoon Police Service? It only takes a few minutes, and could significantly improve the odds of recovering your bike if it’s stolen.

According to the SPS website: “Hundreds of recovered bicycles go to auction each year in Saskatoon because Police cannot identify owners. Bikes and bike parts are actually used as currency in the drug trade.”

Kelsie Fraser, senior public affairs specialist with SPS, says bike registration does work. “Recently we have had two success stories in which bicycles were recovered from an arrest, and when the serial numbers were queried, came back positive on the bike registry,” says Fraser. That resulted in additional charges being laid. “This is an example of why it can be important to register bikes with the bike registry.”

“Had those bikes not been registered, we would be unable to conclusively say they had been stolen, and return them to their rightful owner.”

When you fill out the Online Bicycle Registration form, you will be asked to enter information about your bike’s make, model, type of bike, color, and serial number. You should also upload a few photos too.

Ensuring your bike has some distinctive markings or decals — to make it stand out from other similar bikes — can also help make it easier for police to spot it. Or you could engrave some sort of personalized marking that can’t be removed. Be sure to include mention of any of these special unique touches when you’re registering your bike.

Bike thefts are down compared to this time last year (278 vs 416), but police speculate that’s because COVID forced the closure of many places cyclists typically park their bikes, such as retail businesses, schools, and shopping malls.

And remember: Registering your bike with the police can never take the place of securing it properly, using a good-quality lock. In an upcoming post, we’ll talk to some local bike shops about what to look for when buying a bike lock, and how best to use them to foil thieves. Stay tuned!