Classic & Vintage - Police Sale Cherrypicking

There was a police sale of bikes in Clinton Iowa yesterday. I showed up an hour early and watched as the police brought bikes out of the warehouse and filled the lot up with several hundred bikes.

I could see pretty good along the fence. Most of the bikes were junk Wally-worlders and old ashtabula-cranked relics with a few roadbikes that caught my eye. Then I noticed that the police were loading a pickup with nicer bikes. Then, about 30 minutes before the sale opening time, the cops opened the gate and drove out with about 6-8n bikes. I got pretty close and saw several Treks, a Cannondale and a beautiful Bianchi road bike.


Now I know why it seems so futile shopping for treasures at these sales -- the police cherrypick the goodies for themselves.

I wonder just how hard they worked to find the owners of these Treks, Cannondales, and Bianchis?

EDIT: Somebody posted on BF not too long ago about seeing his stolen bike in the possession of the cop who is in charge of stolen bike recovery in his town. When he asked her about it, she lied about buying it from the shop he bought it from. He checked with the shop, and that's how he knew she had lied about it.

I wonder just how hard they worked to find the owners of these Treks, Cannondales, and Bianchis?

EDIT: Somebody posted on BF not too long ago about seeing his stolen bike in the possession of the cop who is in charge of stolen bike recovery in his town. When he asked her about it, she lied about buying it from the shop he bought it from. He checked with the shop, and that's how he knew she had lied about it.

If that happened to me, I'd have the "staties" all over their ass.... real quick. I woulodn't even think twice about it.

Here in Northern Virginia I have an 'in' with the bikes which are being held first for ownership claims and then later (when they are not claimed) for auction. It's very, very rare to see anything above a huffy in the mix. And yes, absolutely the cops get first dibs on anything nice.

Just had the local PD auction here last Saturday. 130 bikes and I could count on one hand the bikes that were worth anything. Two Treks, and a Gary Fisher. I was looking for road bikes and the best they had to offer was a gas-pipe framed Nishiki. Very disappointing.

Friends of mine in other provinces say the same thing about bike auctions. Ive gone to many police recovery auctions and the crap outnumbers the good 2000 to 1. Mostly mountain bikes too and for those there are some quality bikes. The selection of road bikes is realy bad. I lucked out and got my GIOs that way. I bid on a carbon treck too but was unsure of the frame as it may have been cracked. I stopped bidding at $500 and it soled for $550. The Gios was a steel (double pun intended) at $250. Best $250 I ever spent. At another auction the same quality of bike was going for well over twice what I paid. Auctions are odd things as the values will vary greatly from one auction to the next. The police for sure have a line on these goods but some good ones can get through.

It seems to me that there's a serious conflict of interest when the police have their pick of unclaimed bikes-- how much effort are they going to expend on reuniting theft victims with their property when they have their eye on that same property?

I think if there were some sort of failsafe system in place that ensures that a diligent effort is made to find the owners of stolen property, I'd be less concerned about them having their pick of unclaimed bikes at the end of the year, but I don't know how you ensure that a diligent effort will be made when they have a stake in the outcome.

It seems to me that there's a serious conflict of interest when the police have their pick of unclaimed bikes-- how much effort are they going to expend on reuniting theft victims with their property when they have their eye on that same property?

I think if there were some sort of failsafe system in place that ensures that a diligent effort is made to find the owners of stolen property, I'd be less concerned about them having their pick of unclaimed bikes at the end of the year, but I don't know how you ensure that a diligent effort will be made when they have a stake in the outcome.

How diligent can they be? If the person whose bike was stolen presents a serial number and a pic, then they should be reasonably confident that if the police have recovered their bike, they will get it back. If not, then they have crooked cops and that is a different story. Remember also, a lot of victims don't want their bike back, they want the insurance money. Maybe everyone should go back to licensing their bikes so the police could make a diligent effort to find the owner.

It seems to me that there's a serious conflict of interest when the police have their pick of unclaimed bikes-- how much effort are they going to expend on reuniting theft victims with their property when they have their eye on that same property?

As a former cop who rides bikes I can state that not too many cops ride, or even know much about them.
On the other hand, I could tell you enough about the 'us or them' cop attitude to confirm your theory.
Top

.....On the other hand, I could tell you enough about the 'us or them' cop attitude to confirm your theory.Top

"power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely"
-Lord Acton, Historian 1834-1902

Unfortuanaley, far too many to succumb to the temptation. I wish that I had a solution, but I don't.

It is worth calling the Chief of Police( municipal )or the Sheriff (county) and let them know.
No Law Enforcement agency wants to have thier crediblity inpuned. If the officers did somthing that even looks like a conflict of interest the administration should be informed.
They may have not broken any policies this year, but if you let them know what happend , I would wager that it will be against policy next year.
I know our Sheriff's office prohibits deputies from purchasing anything from a Sheriff's sale.

Somebody posted on BF not too long ago about seeing his stolen bike in the possession of the cop who is in charge of stolen bike recovery in his town. When he asked her about it, she lied about buying it from the shop he bought it from. He checked with the shop, and that's how he knew she had lied about it.Trouble is, how do you prove it's your bike? Not many of us still have the original bill-of-sale with serial number, as even if you did, it still doesn't prove you still owned the bike.

Trouble is, how do you prove it's your bike? Not many of us still have the original bill-of-sale with serial number, as even if you did, it still doesn't prove you still owned the bike.

Think of a way of marking your bike so you can positively identify it. Engraved initials underneath handlebar tape as a possibility.

You need to document two things: That you own the bike, and the value of the bike.

1) Owning the bike: A receipt is useful for proving that you own the bike; however, if the bike is stolen, you also need to file a police report. The receipt and the police report together would be evidence that you owned the bike at the time it was stolen. If you don't have a receipt, repair receipts can also be used to establish evidence of ownership. Basically, you need some sort of documentary evidence that you own the bike. Engraving evidence into the bike would probably also be evidence of ownership. You should have a documentary file for every bike you own, with receipts, serial numbers, engravings, and photographic and/or videographic records of the bike. Keep this documentary file in a safe place-- for example, a safe-deposit box.

2) Value of the bike: You want an insurance policy that pays out replacement cost value rather than actual cost value. The documentary file you creat for your bike can also be used to create a record of the replacement cost value of your bike. Receipts, photographs, and/or videos can document the condition of the bike, which will help you get an accurate estimate for the replacement cost.