2008 Woodie Awards
OPD warns students of frequent bike theft
Caroline Briggs
Issue date: 8/31/07 Section: Community
As Miami University students begin another academic year, the same problem continues for alternate commuters on- and off-campus-bike displacement.
Whether stolen or "borrowed," students return to the places their bikes once stood only to find them missing. According to Sgt. Andy Rosenberger of the Miami University Police Department (MUPD), this is an all-too-common circumstance that typically rests on the owner because he or she does not store a bike properly after use.
"Typically, it's the bikes that are left unattended or unlocked that are vandalized or stolen," Rosenberger said. "If (MUPD officers) do recover a bike, we tag it and place it in our storage unit at Ditmer (parking facility). Most of the time though, people never come and pick them back up."
Rosenberger stated that most on-campus bike theft or vandals are alcohol-related. He said that bikes that are not properly locked in front of residence halls are easy targets for intoxicated individuals.
Sgt. Jim Squance of the Oxford Police Department (OPD) agrees that students who experience off-campus bike theft also fall into an alcohol-related category.
"It's definitely a crime of opportunity," Squance said. "Leaving bikes unattended gives an intoxicated individual the use to get from point A to point B without thinking twice. (OPD) finds a good amount of recovered bikes dumped in yards, roads and bushes."
Last weekend, Aug. 24-26, two Miami students had bikes disappear from just outside of their off-campus apartment complexes. Seniors Lindsay Jackson and Jonathan Schnader both reported to OPD that their bikes had gone missing sometime during that weekend.
Jackson said that she did not have a complete bike lock, so she set her bike on a rack with others near her apartment complex thinking no one would look close enough to notice.
"I trusted people enough not to take it," Jackson said. "Now that it's gone, I'm perpetually late to class."
Schnader was not totally clear on whether or not the lock on his bike had been picked or cut, but he was just as upset contemplating getting to campus from his East Spring Street apartment on a daily basis.
"It's more obnoxious than anything else," Schnader said.
Both Jackson and Schnader plan on attending the bike auction that will be held at Millett Hall Sept. 8 with bikes recovered by MUPD. According to Rosenberger, there will be more than 100 bikes recovered or left by Miami students over the year that will be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Overall, Squance stresses bike attentiveness to avoid bike theft. He recommends students park their bikes in well-lit areas with a solid graphite locks and pay attention to them on a daily basis.
"There are people who come to town with a pickup truck and will take unlocked bikes to sell them somewhere else," Squance said. "Bikes that are easily accessible and easy to get are the first to go."
Whether stolen or "borrowed," students return to the places their bikes once stood only to find them missing. According to Sgt. Andy Rosenberger of the Miami University Police Department (MUPD), this is an all-too-common circumstance that typically rests on the owner because he or she does not store a bike properly after use.
"Typically, it's the bikes that are left unattended or unlocked that are vandalized or stolen," Rosenberger said. "If (MUPD officers) do recover a bike, we tag it and place it in our storage unit at Ditmer (parking facility). Most of the time though, people never come and pick them back up."
Rosenberger stated that most on-campus bike theft or vandals are alcohol-related. He said that bikes that are not properly locked in front of residence halls are easy targets for intoxicated individuals.
Sgt. Jim Squance of the Oxford Police Department (OPD) agrees that students who experience off-campus bike theft also fall into an alcohol-related category.
"It's definitely a crime of opportunity," Squance said. "Leaving bikes unattended gives an intoxicated individual the use to get from point A to point B without thinking twice. (OPD) finds a good amount of recovered bikes dumped in yards, roads and bushes."
Last weekend, Aug. 24-26, two Miami students had bikes disappear from just outside of their off-campus apartment complexes. Seniors Lindsay Jackson and Jonathan Schnader both reported to OPD that their bikes had gone missing sometime during that weekend.
Jackson said that she did not have a complete bike lock, so she set her bike on a rack with others near her apartment complex thinking no one would look close enough to notice.
"I trusted people enough not to take it," Jackson said. "Now that it's gone, I'm perpetually late to class."
Schnader was not totally clear on whether or not the lock on his bike had been picked or cut, but he was just as upset contemplating getting to campus from his East Spring Street apartment on a daily basis.
"It's more obnoxious than anything else," Schnader said.
Both Jackson and Schnader plan on attending the bike auction that will be held at Millett Hall Sept. 8 with bikes recovered by MUPD. According to Rosenberger, there will be more than 100 bikes recovered or left by Miami students over the year that will be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Overall, Squance stresses bike attentiveness to avoid bike theft. He recommends students park their bikes in well-lit areas with a solid graphite locks and pay attention to them on a daily basis.
"There are people who come to town with a pickup truck and will take unlocked bikes to sell them somewhere else," Squance said. "Bikes that are easily accessible and easy to get are the first to go."
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