I only have experience with a Canadian university about this. As far as I know there is no specific enabling law for removing abandoned bicycles, so they just have their own policy about tagging bikes before removal.
It might be easier to convince your police & policy-people that there is no need for an actual law, rather than trying to get one put in place. I mean, there is no law that says bikes on public bike racks are inviolable private property of their owners, right? As long as the procedure is respectful (in terms of notice before removal, possibility of recovery, etc), there should be few/no complaints.
Jean-François
On Jun 21, 2016, at 09:58 , Jeff DeQuattro jdequattro@deltabikeproject.org wrote:
Greetings!
Through the Delta Bike Project in Mobile, Alabama we are working with city leaders and the Mobile Police Department to update certain ordinances that have neglected to meet the needs of our city.
One of those ordinances we seek to create is an ordinance that allows the City/Police to recover abandoned bicycles that have been chained up for some (unknown) extended amount of time. We hope that the Delta Bike Project could be the recipient of those bikes for inclusion into our Time is Money Program. It's also a way to clear up our very limited amount of bike parking - something we're also working on through various fundraisers and agreements of understanding to install fixit stations and bike racks.
Are there examples from this group of ordinances in your city that allow public safety officials or others to recover abandoned bikes? Do you have examples of that language that you can share? Also, are there other similar ordinances that are good to accompany these?
We are lucky to have the ear of the City Leaders and the Police Department, so we would be ever grateful for feedback on this issues.
Thank you,
Jeff
-- Warm regards,
Jeff DeQuattro Executive Director
Delta Bike Project 561 St. Francis Street Mobile, AL 36602
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