Austin police warn bike thefts are up across the city, especially in the downtown area.

Police say thieves are stealing bikes downtown as fast as their owners can lock them up. Peter Brown is one of the victims.

"One night in a pretty quiet neighborhood by campus my bike was stolen. I had one of these locks. They just clipped it. I found the lock down the street somewhere about 100 feet from the house,” he said.

He hasn’t seen his bike since.

"Now I'm using my mom's. I have tons of friends in the campus area who have had their bikes stolen two or three times," said Brown.

Lieutenant Gena Curtis says bike thefts are a big problem right now in the downtown area, especially at night. Officers are watching for potential thieves and making stops.

"We look at the bike and look at the serial number. We'll run the bicycle if given permission to do so if they're a cooperative individual," said Curtis.

Even if officers locate stolen bikes, it's rare they ever make it back to their owners. The APD storage facility is currently holding 250 stolen bikes.

"If you are victimized and they are stolen we have got to have that affirmative link to get it back to you whether with a serial number or some type of special engraving you can identify on the bike whether it's a phone number or a driver's license, social security number," said Curtis.

Curtis also recommends using a u-lock instead of a cable lock, or even using both. Brown still only uses a cable lock, but there's one thing he'll never do again.

"I definitely leave in the garage or indoors. I don't leave my bike out at night anymore," said Brown.

APD recommends registering your bike at www.nationalbikeregistry.com. They routinely check the site for stolen bikes and also get alerts. Another reason to write down your serial number or engrave your bike:  bikes without any owner information will only be held for 30 days then auctioned off. Bikes with owner information or registry will be held for 121 days.