Students often consider bicycles to be a cheap and fast means of getting across campus. Some see bikes as a cheap and fast means of making profits.
Since the start of 2019, six bicycles have been reported stolen.
Bicycle theft continues to be a prevalent crime on campus, with 104 bicycles being reported stolen in 2018 alone, according to LSUPD. This is a 60 percent increase in reported bicycle thefts from 2017. Based on average costs for low-range bicycles, this could total as high as $31,200 in collective stolen property value.
Will Adams, owner of Front Yard Bikes on Government Street, shared his thoughts on the motivations behind these bicycle thefts.
“The reason bike thefts happen so often is because it’s a convenience thing,” Adams said. “So somebody’s walking, then all of a sudden there’s a bike. They’re faster than they were before — a lot more mobile.”
Adams said that once stolen, bicycles are often traded or sold for a quick profit. Bicycles move from person to person quickly and often before finally being sold in a pawn shop, abandoned in a ditch or recovered by police.
This scenario occurs frequently to students at the University, including agribusiness sophomore Green Northcutt, whose bicycle was stolen this past summer. Northcutt worked at Baptist Collegiate Ministry when a man cut the chain to his bike during the middle of the day. When people passed the thief, he would stop cutting through the bike lock to talk to them.
Northcutt received surveillance footage of the crime from Baptist Collegiate Ministry and contacted LSUPD immediately. However, his bicycle was never found.
“That was my dad’s bike,” Northcutt said. “It wasn’t that valuable. It was worth less than $100, but I inherited that from him. It felt like I was losing something that wasn’t mine to lose.”
LSUPD Lt. Reginald Berry shared tips for preventing bicycle theft, and said one of the best ways to prevent bicycle theft is by purchasing a steel U-Lock.
Berry said the U-Lock is the best invention thus far for preventing bike theft, as only two bicycles have been stolen from campus that were using a U-Lock. All other bicycles stolen from campus used a chain lock, which can easily be cut by using bolt cutters.
Berry also recommended that students park their bicycles at designated bicycle racks, as they often have surveillance cameras monitoring those areas for theft. However, Berry said that above all, students should register their bicycles with LSUPD at the public safety building.
Berry explained that once registered, LSUPD knows the make and model of each bicycle along with a serial number for each bicycle. With that information, they are able to search for the bicycle and thief more easily.
Northcutt, like many students, remains skeptical of bicycle theft being curtailed.
“I think there’s definitely things you can do to diminish it, but I think it’s always going to be a problem in some form,” Northcutt said.
Northcutt said the simplicity of bike theft is what makes it so enticing for thieves. He said that once thieves notice how easy it is to steal the bicycles and receive no consequence, they are encouraged to repeat the act.
“Some people think it’s just a bicycle theft,” Berry said. “No, that’s someone’s belongings and someone’s property and it’s important to all of us.”
