Of the 29 students that have registered their bicycles with Loyola University Police Department this year, four have been stolen.
“Some of the biggest problems that we find are bicycles that are not registered,” said Loyola University Police Department Director of Public Safety Patrick Bailey. Registering a bicycle with LUPD, a free and required process for students with bicycles on campus, provides a student with a bicycle permit, which is placed on the bike.
A copy of the registration is given to the owner, and a copy is kept on file as a way to prove ownership and track down bike that is misplaced or stolen and file a theft charge. Bike owners who fail to follow registration guidelines are fined $5 and their bikes are immobilized.
Sociology freshman David Wehrwein said that he uses his bicycle at least five times a week to get to his Tulane class, go to the grocery store or to “bike around the park.”
Wehrwein said that he is not entirely sure about the safety of his bike “lock or no lock.” As a form of precaution, he keeps his bicycle in his room during breaks.
“This is New Orleans where bikes get stolen left and right, and my bike is in a public location,” he said.
LUPD will remove any bicycles that are not appropriately locked for safekeeping.
“We call this program our ‘Adopt-A-Bike’ program. These unlocked or improperly secured bikes could have been additional theft statistics if it wasn’t for our alert university police officers,” Bailey said.
Another problem Bailey noted is people not locking their bicycles or using cheap locks that can easily be cut. Students instead need to lock their bikes to the bike racks with a U-bolt bike lock.
“Many bikes are valued at $300 and above, and unfortunately owners use a $10 cheap cable or cheap chain and cheap lock and improper securing methods,” Bailey said.
Still, Bailey said he feels that if students securely locked their bicycles, theft could, in many cases, be prevented.
“I have personally found and recovered five unsecured bicycles on the main campus this academic year,” he said.
Ingo Lou, producer of a new reality web show, “To Catch a Bike Thief,” said a problem that bicycle theft has been on college campuses.
“Students are especially affected by bike theft because many rely on bicycles as their single mode of transportation,” Lou said.
“Always try to secure the bike frame and both tires to a stationery object,” Bailey said. “It is not enough to secure only the front wheel, because then the rest of the bike can be easily stolen using the quick release wheel system.”
Ingo agreed with Bailey about the prevention of theft.
“It’s a really big problem, and there’s a strong perception that not a lot can be done about it,” he said.
The makers of “To Catch a Bike Thief ” hope to raise awareness of this issue and to teach their viewers how to prevent it.
“We’re hoping to show our viewers and fans some cool new technologies, tools and solutions to combating bicycle theft,” Lou said.
Bike theft has declined in the past year from the 11 bikes that were stolen in 2011, although 176 bicycles were registered during that academic year.
Jade Domingue can be reached at [email protected]
