Bicycle Theft Prevention

The Fernandina Beach Police Department is always working to improve service delivery, analyze crime trends and data, and reduce incidents of crime wherever possible. 

It is important to know that larceny crimes make up the overwhelming majority of all Part One Crimes, as reported semi-annually and annually in the form of Uniform Crime Report (UCR) statistics. Further analysis demonstrates that the most frequent larceny event by type is classified for reporting purposes as “larceny from a motor vehicle,” more commonly known as “vehicle burglary.” The second highest individual category is bicycle theft.

While bicycle theft is historically high on the UCR list of larceny crimes by type, it is also a crime that presents a great opportunity for successful resolution. The sad fact is that many victims report their bike stolen, but are unable to provide the Police Department with basic and necessary information, such as manufacturer’s serial number and other unique identifiers. This situation makes it very difficult for Police Officer’s to recover the stolen bike in the first place and even more difficult to prosecute the offender. In many cases such lucky offenders may well be empowered to commit additional larceny crimes of various types.

For a variety of reasons related to insurance claims, recovery of property, and prosecution of offenders, it is vitally important to record the available information, or to take photographs of valuable property that might one day be lost or stolen. In today’s cyber world, once given the proper data, police departments can easily reach across jurisdictional boundaries, extending the long arm of the law in a very positive way.