Bicycle thefts are down since 1991

124 bikes have been taken this fall Bicycle thefts in the first three months of the academic year were down for the third consecutive year, University Police statistics show. In September, October and November of this year, 124 students had bikes stolen, as opposed to 162 in the same period last year and 216 in 1991. That's a 58 percent decrease since the fall of 1991. University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich attributed the decrease to the bicycle patrol – which he believes has greater ability to pursue bike thieves – and more police visibility on campus. He also said students seem to use better locks and properly lock their bicycles to racks. "Noting from what [bicycle theft] has been in the past," Kuprevich said, "we've made a large effort to make arrests." Some campus locations remain hot spots for bicycle theft, though. In the three-month period this year, 15 bicycles were stolen from the Chemistry Building and four from Williams Hall. And those aren't new trends. In the same period of 1991, 14 bicycles were stolen from the Chemistry Building and 12 from Williams. Kuprevich said one of the best ways to fight bike theft is for students to register their bicycles with University Police. "It's free, it takes only a few minutes [and the] chances of getting your bike back are increased immensely," he said. Kuprevich said students and residents of the community can register their bikes at the police mini-station at 3920 Walnut Street anytime, and that University Police has also conducted registration drives at various locations including Graduate Tower A. When a bicycle is registered, the police engrave a symbol on the bicycle, which they register in a data-base along with the bicycle's owner, serial number, color and make, Kuprevich said. College senior Kirsten Bartok recovered her bicycle from University Police soon after it was stolen from her Walnut Street sorority house. After University Police arrested the thieves, they returned the bicycle – which was registered – to Bartok. Had Bartok not registered her bicycle, University Police would have had no way of identifying the owner, Kuprevich said. College junior Peter Smith had to learn the hard way. He had two bicycles stolen before he registered his new bike. University Police are also selling at -cost the latest model of Kryptonite U-locks at the mini-station. Kuprevich said University Police bought 75 of the locks at the beginning of the year to sell to students because many of the old U-locks, which were designed differently, were being broken by thieves. Kuprevich said it is much more difficult to steal a bicycle that has the new lock on it. University Police are also aggressively seeking out any possible links between bicycle thefts, Kuprevich added. "If we see flyers [advertising used bicycles] up around campus, we will have an officer call and check as an interested purchaser," he said. Kuprevich noted that the decrease in the thefts was "very consistent with what we're seeing in area defined as the campus proper – decreases in crime. And that's nothing but good news."