The Dane County Sheriff's Office and all Dane County police departments held their annual property auction Saturday at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison.
More than 300 bicycles and various electronics, including DVDs, old computers and TVs, were up for bid.
According to Dane County Deputy Sheriff Greg Leatherberry, the auction is held each year to rid law enforcement agency property rooms of all the bicycles and unclaimed items that have accumulated over the past year.
He noted that most of the bicycles are found property and have never been claimed by their owners. Some of the other property is also found, while some of it is stolen.
Essentially it becomes abandoned and we have to auction it,"" Leatherberry said.
Whether it is stolen or found, it does not make a difference to the people who attend the auction each year; they are simply hoping to score a good deal.
""I come every year, I'm a regular,"" said Randy Jacobson, who has been attending the auction for eight or nine years. ""I like to come for the electronics.""
Phyllis Larson, another attendee, said she used to come specifically to look at the bicycles for her kids.
Caroline Essert and Renee Supple, both property clerks for the Madison Police Department, said the bikes truly are a steal.
""We don't get a lot of premium bikes, but a lot of people will come and bid on them,"" Supple said.
Both clerks stressed the importance of giving back to the public, and being able to give donations to those members of the community who would really benefit.
""It would be really sad if [the property] just had to be junked. Right now the statutes and city ordinances don't let us donate, but we'd like to be able to do that,"" Essert said. ""We're working on getting that changed, especially with the bikes. It'd be great to donate them to youth organizations or adults without wheels.""
According to Leatherberry, all of the money generated from the auction for the sheriff's office goes back to the county's general fund - a general treasury and their pool of money. He could not speak for the rest of the agencies, nor did he know how much money they would make.
""It's an auction, so whatever people are willing to pay,"" he said.
