Local law enforcement agencies are partnering with the Arizona Crime Prevention Association to launch the BikeGuard™ Program, www.myassettag.com/bike/ which helps police get stolen and lost bikes back to their owners.
The Arizona Crime Prevention Association notes that the vast majority of stolen bikes end up unclaimed in police storerooms due to a lack of identification and proof of ownership. Through the program, bike owners can register their bikes which are then assigned an identification number and entered into the BikeGuard™ system’s registry. Every bike owner is then mailed three free, tamper-proof aluminum tags backed with a special permanent adhesive. Together with a printable, proof-of-ownership certificate, the tags come complete with a special QR code that when scanned by a smartphone, directs viewers to the bike owner’s internet page.
Every 7 seconds, a bicycle is stolen in the United States. While most bike thefts can be prevented by properly securing the bicycle with an adequate lock to a fixed object such as a bicycle rack, bike registration is equally as important. With some cities having ordinances that require community members to register bikes, in most cases those programs are exclusive to each individual’s jurisdiction. This makes it difficult for law enforcement in other cities or states to track owner information outside of their own jurisdiction. This program has the potential to solve this issue as the umbrella for bike registration nationally.
Anyone that registers their bikes into the free program can ride with the knowledge that their bikes have been registered into a national database that local police have access. For more information visit: www.acpa.net/bike_registration.aspx