Police attempt to cut down on bike thefts

Plan to ticket unsecured, unregistered bikes In an attempt to decrease the number of bicycle thefts on campus, University Police officers will soon begin ticketing bikes that are not registered or properly locked. No penalty will be assigned, but Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush said she wants to remind students of the potential threat of theft as the weather gets warmer. Last year, 325 bicycle thefts and thefts of bike parts occurred in areas on and around campus. This number decreased slightly from the 335 thefts in 1994. Rush said she wants this year's thefts to decrease significantly. She suggests that students try to avoid the problem by purchasing either a Bicycle Club or a Kryptonite lock. "If you spend that much [money] on a bike, then you want to make sure you take the next step and get a good lock," she said, adding that both kinds of locks are available from Victim Support Services at 3927 Walnut Street for $30 each. University Police Capt. John Richardson explained that officers will continue the current policy of either securing unlocked bikes temporarily with police locks or notifying owners that they may retrieve their bicycles from police headquarters in Superblock. Rush said registering bikes -- a service Victim Support provides free of charge -- may also be helpful in deterring theft. "There may be a correlation between non-registered bikes and bikes that are stolen," she said. "If there are two Trek bikes back to back, it is more likely that the one that is not registered will be stolen –– people wouldn't want to take something that can be traced." The 468 bikes registered last year decreased from the 492 registered in 1994. Rush explained that registering a bike increases the probability that it will be retrieved if it is stolen. Since a registered bike is engraved with a numerical identifier and also contains a sticker with a number corresponding to the particular entry in the police database, police can trace the bike directly to its owner. Rush said police can pinpoint the whereabouts of a registered bike owner by checking his class schedule in the computer database. Bicycle tickets will also be given to students who do not lock their bikes on racks. This measure is to ensure that safety standards are met. "There are people with sight disabilities on this campus who are used to walking certain paths. Bikes locked to railings may cause problems," Rush said. The tickets will also contain a plea for riders to "ride carefully and appropriately." "There are issues bikers have to obey for their own safety and the safety of others," Rush said. University Police Officer Michael Sylvester proposed the ticketing policy. "I really like the idea, since it is an initiative of one of the officers trying to make the campus a little bit safer," Rush added.