New index designed to fight bike theft

Pocatello has adopted a new program city police hope will combat bicycle theft.

It’s called Bike Index and it gives anyone the ability to register and recover stolen bicycles. The free registration service and database can be used and searched by individuals, bike shops, and police departments.

“We encourage everyone to register their bicycles on our Bike Index portal so that we can return found bikes to their owners,” states Cpl. Matt Shutes. “Stolen bikes are registered and flagged in the system so that if a bike is found, the owner can quickly be identified.”

So far this year, Pocatello Police report 53 stolen bicycles and 5 recovered in the city. That compares to 77 stolen and 16 recovered in 2017 and 118 stolen and 16 recovered in 2016.

You can access the registration portal here.

Computers with access to the portal are also available in the lobby of the Pocatello Police Department at 911 North 7th Avenue and at Barrie’s Ski and Sports at 624 Yellowstone Avenue in Pocatello.

In addition to registration, police encourage residents to use a U-shaped lock. They said cable locks are fairly easily defeated. A U-shaped, steel lock that fits snugly against the frame will resist forced breakage by a thief. You should apply the lock through the triangle of the bike frame and rear tire.