ANN ARBOR—A free, online bicycle registration service is being offered by the University of Michigan Department of Public Safety on the Ann Arbor campus. The program is designed to help deter bicycle thefts and aid in the return of found bicycles to owners.

“This is an expansion of our successful online laptop and electronics registration program,” Joe Piersante, interim DPS chief, said. “We’ve registered more than 7,500 laptops since 2009 and have found that those that are registered are less likely to be stolen.”

Students, faculty and staff may register their contact information and their bicycles’ serial numbers and other details on the DPS website. The owner will be sent two stickers to apply to their bicycle – one to deter theft noting that the bike is registered and another sticker with a registration number to tie it to the registration database.

“Bicycles have continued to be targeted by local thieves,” Piersante said. “We want to encourage bicycle owners to use U-bolt locks, rather than flexible cable locks, to reduce the incidence of theft. Thus far in 2012, we’ve had 91 reports of stolen bicycles from campus locations as compared with 69 in 2011.”

U-M police officers also have been using creative strategies to help catch bike theft suspects, including placement of bait bicycles with Global Positioning System (GPS) devices and working with local bicycle retail shops that purchase used bikes.

To register a bicycle, visit www.police.umich.edu.