2008 Woodie Awards
Officers gather unattended bikes
Martin, Michelle
Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: TruLife
Chad Whittom, sergeant for the Department of Public Safety, said he thinks students who don't lock up their bicycles could be making an unfortunate mistake.
Whittom said that in addition to the possibility of bicycle theft, another reason not to leave bikes unlocked or unattended is that DPS picks up bicycles that seem abandoned or are illegally parked. After a period of six months, DPS gives the bicycles to the Recycling Center to be auctioned to the public, Whittom said.
"If we find a bike that looks like somebody grabbed it, rode it, then abandoned it, then we'll pick it up," he said.
He said abandonment most commonly happens during the summer when students have graduated or left campus.
"We have to go out [and] pick up the abandoned bikes because otherwise the bike racks get full and aren't available for people to use who need them," Whittom said.
Illegal bike parking involves chaining bicycles to hand rails or light poles. Whittom said that chaining bikes to hand rails causes a hazard to people who need to use the rails, and chaining them to light poles is against regulations.
DPS also finds bicycles that have been abandoned after theft, one of the most common campus crimes, he said. .
Whittom said he thinks it is imperative for all students to lock up their bikes to avoid the possibility of theft.
"It's amazing how many bikes you'll see sitting around unsecured, and it doesn't take but just a second to reach up and grab it and be gone with it," he said.
Junior Drew Forrester said he had an experience with bike theft last year when a friend's bike was stolen after she forgot to lock it up.
"We went to look for it, and I ended up finding it in a completely different spot," he said.
Forrester said he normally locks up his bike, although his lock is a little outdated.
"It would be really easy to steal my bike because all [someone would] have to do is take clippers and cut the chains," he said. "It wouldn't be that hard because the chains aren't thick at all."
Whittom said that in addition to the possibility of bicycle theft, another reason not to leave bikes unlocked or unattended is that DPS picks up bicycles that seem abandoned or are illegally parked. After a period of six months, DPS gives the bicycles to the Recycling Center to be auctioned to the public, Whittom said.
"If we find a bike that looks like somebody grabbed it, rode it, then abandoned it, then we'll pick it up," he said.
He said abandonment most commonly happens during the summer when students have graduated or left campus.
"We have to go out [and] pick up the abandoned bikes because otherwise the bike racks get full and aren't available for people to use who need them," Whittom said.
Illegal bike parking involves chaining bicycles to hand rails or light poles. Whittom said that chaining bikes to hand rails causes a hazard to people who need to use the rails, and chaining them to light poles is against regulations.
DPS also finds bicycles that have been abandoned after theft, one of the most common campus crimes, he said. .
Whittom said he thinks it is imperative for all students to lock up their bikes to avoid the possibility of theft.
"It's amazing how many bikes you'll see sitting around unsecured, and it doesn't take but just a second to reach up and grab it and be gone with it," he said.
Junior Drew Forrester said he had an experience with bike theft last year when a friend's bike was stolen after she forgot to lock it up.
"We went to look for it, and I ended up finding it in a completely different spot," he said.
Forrester said he normally locks up his bike, although his lock is a little outdated.
"It would be really easy to steal my bike because all [someone would] have to do is take clippers and cut the chains," he said. "It wouldn't be that hard because the chains aren't thick at all."
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