ABOUT

Detroit Bike Blacklist is a super simple way for reporting your bike stolen, and a super simple way for letting the bike owner know you've found it. That's it.

Origin

So, in October of 2013 I found out that the bike I was riding around on was stolen property.

It had been stolen from Eastern Market, donated to a local bike shop (by a parent maybe?), and I ended up buying it.

Read the Full Story - Theft Guilt: Part 1

I pieced this together by meeting the former bike owner, and then talking with people at the bike shop. It was no one's fault - it just ended up that way.

But what if there was a way to check if the bike you were buying had been stolen?

Thus, the Detroit Bike Blacklist was born.

The Real Purpose

However, aside from creating a solution for bike theft reporting, I have a devious underlying plan.

I don't believe the goal here is to stop bike theft. Bike theft is a symptom, not a root problem. Don't get me wrong, it sucks to get your bike stolen. But that doesn't mean that the person who stole it isn't in a worse position than you.

I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt here: If they could choose, they wouldn't choose to steal bikes.

Now I have no idea what the solution for this larger problem is because I don't believe you can even talk about solutions until you understand what's going on in the first place.

I want to understand bike theft, the systemic causes of it, and I want to gather that data and make it publicly accessible to inform a larger discussion.

I created this site with this goal in the forefront.

Read More - The Fourth Wall of Detroit

Features To Come

  • Adding location the bike was stolen.
  • Easy way to printout your stolen bike.
  • An API to access data.
  • Connecting with local police departments.
  • Send me your ideas!

Thanks To

  • Joey from the Hub for pushing me to finish this thing.
  • "Magic" for being the first to submit a bike!
  • Hannah Hillier for advice and feedback on the business card design and logo.
  • Sara Greene for design guidance on the logo and site design.