The number of bike thefts on campus is up approximately 8 percent from last year, according to Campus Police.
Ian Kendrick, public safety supervisor for Campus Police, said one of the reasons for the increase in thefts is because students are bringing bikes to campus and abandoning them.
“Don’t bring your bike on campus if you are not going to use it,” Kendrick said.
Jordan McLaughlin, a junior in landscape architecture, said his bike was stolen Oct. 1 near Kamphoefner Hall.
“It happened between 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., so it could have been anytime. It was very sunny that day, with lots of people walking around, so I’m unsure of how it went unnoticed,” McLaughlin said.
University Transportation offers students the option to register their bikes.
“If students wish to bring it on campus, they must register it with Transportation and it’s free,” Kendrick said.
Kendrick said it’s also important to register the bike with Campus Police.
“We usually engrave some number that identifies you on the bike, like [the] number on your driver’s license, etc.,” Kendrick said.
McLaughlin said he reported the incident to Campus Police after theft.
“I reported the incident with Campus Police, who said that as long as they had the serial number, it would be retrieved. However, I still have heard nothing from them,” McLaughlin said.
Although he went through the proper channels, McLaughlin said he doesn’t expect Campus Police to find his bike.
“I reported this at the police station as soon as I found the bike missing, they were professional and kind, but I doubt they will find it,” McLaughlin said.
Kendrick said he feels most thefts are due to ineffective locking systems.
“Students normally use cable locks or chain locks. We recommend them to use solid core U-bolt locks” Kendrick said.
McLaughlin confirmed Kendrick’s claim about cable locks being ineffective.
Kendrick said he recommends students attach bikes to an operative bike racks and not to sign post or railings
At times, Campus Police park marked police bikes in the places of likely thefts, Kendrick said.
“This way it keeps them guessing sometimes, and we can make arrests if we find any thefts,” said Kendrick.
Most of the stolen vehicles previously used to be mountain bikes, Kendrick said, but recently less expensive road bikes have also become targets.
“Previously higher-end bikes used to be stolen but now this trend is changing,” Kendrick said.
Kendrick said when a theft is reported, Campus Police immediately verify the legitimacy of the claim.
“We check [to see] if the bike is with [University] Transportation or any other department to verify if it’s [been] stolen or not,” Kendrick said.
After verification of theft, Campus Police then investigate the theft.
“We check who the victim is, try to find out suspect information and update the bikes status as stolen if it is registered,” Kendrick said.
According to Kendrick, Campus Police try to educate bike owners to avoid thefts.
“Education is the biggest thing to prevent any theft, we work with Housing and Transportation on this as well,” Kendrick said.
Rodney Axtman, a graduate student in business administration, said he feels it’s ultimately the bike owner’s responsibility to secure their bike properly.
”I rode a bike to class during my undergrad at NCSU. I didn’t have any problems with theft because it was a pretty crummy bike and I locked it up when I parked it,” Axtman said.
Kendrick encourages students to document their information for bikes with Campus Police and Transportation.
“Register with Transportation and get engraving on your bike from Campus Police,” Kendrick said.
According to Kendrick, Campus Police provides forms to document information effectively.
“Sheets are provided to document information about bikes, iPods [and] computers, which include their description and color, this helps us identify them in case of theft,” Kendrick said.
