3 ms·
Many local police forces (towns, cities, universities, etc.) in the US have this type of register using the serial number but I doubt that it is centrally acces
by vinay427 11y ago
Many local police forces (towns, cities, universities, etc.) in the US have this type of register using the serial number but I doubt that it is centrally accessible. Instead, they usually provide a sticker with the police department name/logo that one applies on the frame to identify where it's from. This is certainly not an ideal solution; I would much rather have something like vehicle licensing but free, managed by states or the federal government, which seems more in line with what you mentioned.
Edit: Just found this supposedly national registry: https://www.nationalbikeregistry.com/ https://www.nationalbikeregistry.com/
- swimfar 11y agoBut it appears that only law enforcement have access to the database. It would be much more effective if people were able use it to do a search to see if a bike was reported stolen or not. It may be because it has been around for a long time and was never updated to have an internet interface. They say they are the "only true national database" (whatever that means), but I'm sure other (non-true) ones popped up because of this limitation.
- bhance 11y agoNobody uses the NBR .., they're basically just selling stickers. When you dig into how many LE agencies use them, it's like ... six. Maybe even less. BikeIndex.org, though - which is mentioned in the article because that's what the batman is referencing - is totally open and has over 220+ national partners and over 70k bikes on file.
- vinay427 11y agoBikeIndex.org does seem to be especially prevalent on the west coast and definitely more widely used than the NBR, thanks for pointing that out.