Michael Bennett’s police bike to be auctioned only after riding through sea of red tape

The Seattle police bike Michael Bennett took on an impromptu ride around CenturyLink Field after the NFC Championship will be auctioned for a good cause, but it’ll have to travel as circuitous a route as his Sunday ride to navigate the red tape to get there.

Bennett announced Wednesday at a news conference the Seattle Police Department had donated the bike to his charity OCEAN, which fights obesity through community, education, activity and nutrition.

Like many things when you’re dealing with the government, however, it’s not that simple.

It turns out the police department can’t simply donate the bike, detective Drew Fowler says.

“The city is prohibited from donating official property, no matter how good a cause,” Fowler says.

So a slightly convoluted deal is in the works to make it all legal.

The manufacturer has agreed to donate another bike so there’s no loss of property to the city. But in order to adhere to city ethics rules, the bike maker can’t simply donate it directly to the department because it would be considered an improper gift.

Instead, it’ll donate the new bike to the non-profit Seattle Police Foundation instead.

“Then we’ll have a transfer of property for like property, have an agreement signed with the city, then the Seattle Police Foundation will take custody of the infamous Bennett bike and we’ll have it available for auction,” Fowler says.

The bike will then be auctioned at the Seattle Police Foundation’s Evening of Hope fundraiser on Feb. 7, with the money split between that charity and Bennett’s foundation.

It’s a lot of paperwork and red tape, but Fowler says it’ll be worth it.

“It’s a great cause and we look forward to teaming up with them,” Fowler says. “We’re hoping he’ll sign it, but either way it’s a really cool collectors thing that we’re confident someone will want to get their hands on.”