Bike theft rises five percent

By Rachel McIntosh Staff Writer mcintosh14@up.edu

Freshman Mitchell Boyd was on his way to a night class two weeks ago when he decided to lock his bike up outside of Buckley Center. When he returned after class, his bike and the lock were gone.

Since August, 18 bikes have been reported stolen on campus, causing Public Safety to ask students to register their bikes and keep them locked. This is a five percent increase from last year.

"It's a little bit of an increase because of the economy," director of Public Safety Harold Burke-Sivers said. "Whenever the economy goes down you will see an increase in bike thefts and theft-sensitive items. Things like laptops and smart phones. But for us, the increase has been in bicycles."

Public Safety says most thefts are by off-campus people, but there have been situations where students have been involved in the thefts, according to junior Patrick Tomassi.

"(My bike) was stolen by a student, but I never got it back," Tomassi said, whose bike was not locked when it was stolen from the front of Schoenfeldt Hall in 2009. "It was really unique and I saw it on campus locked up. I couldn't prove it was mine so I couldn't get it back. But it was definitely mine."

Unlocked bikes can invite unwanted visitors looking for easily accessible items to pawn, according to Burke-Sivers.

"Some people come on campus trying to steal, and if they see how easy it is here then they'll say ‘Hey, if you want a bike go to University of Portland,'" Burke-Sivers said. "Then we get all kinds of people here who we don't want."

Stolen bikes are generally sold for scrap metal or to pawn shops for cash, which means the bikes that are stolen are typically the ones that can earn the most money, according to Burke-Sivers.

"I've noticed in talking with other students that there has been a trend," Boyd said. "Bikes that have the title ‘Specialized' on the frame tend to go missing (more often)."

Public Safety offers registration for bikes so if they are stolen, the probability the bikes will be recovered increases, according to Burke-Sivers.

"We want them to register the bike with us because when we send those theft reports to the police, it goes out on their network to all the pawn shops," Burke-Sivers said. "So for example, if they do a raid on a house and they find a bike in there and they see a University of Portland tag on it or they put in the serial number and it comes back University of Portland, then they will get their bike back."

When Public Safety officers notice unlocked bikes, they take them to Public Safety where they are held until the student reports it stolen. Officers do this in order to show students how easy it is for someone to steal a bike and to remind them they need to keep their bikes locked at all times.

After having his bike stolen, Tomassi has two suggestions for bike owners.

"Get a U-lock," Tomassi said. "They are a lot harder to break. Most the people I know who had their locks cut were using chain locks. And actually lock your bike up. A lot of people just make it look like it is locked but don't really bother. I had thought, ‘What are the odds that it will get stolen tonight?' Well, pretty good."

If your bike has been stolen, Boyd suggests searching Craigslist and keeping your eyes open on campus in case it shows up.

"Public Safety told me if bikes show up at all, it is usually within the first two weeks. After that, they are probably gone. But my hopes are still up and I have asked my friends to keep looking as I continue to look for it wherever I go," Boyd said.