Bike thefts up at CMU; police cite pedestrian-friendly campus as cause

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As the number of bicycles on campus have increased, so have bicycle thefts.

Reported incidents of bike thefts have come close to doubling over three years, according to statistics from Central Michigan University Police. There were 33 reported thefts in 2007, 45 in 2008, 63 reported thefts in 2009, and 50 so far in 2010.

CMU Police Sgt. Cameron Wassman said the increase is likely because of more students using bikes instead of cars for transportation around campus.

“People are bringing more bikes and, unfortunately, they are not securing them properly,” he said.

Such an increase in bike usage can be attributed to efforts to make the campus more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly, including the addition of bike lanes and bike racks, said Sgt. Mike Morrow.

Alexa Buckland said she brought an old bike to campus so that people would not be tempted to steal it.

“I’m not nervous about people stealing it because it’s not worth stealing,” the Grand Haven freshman said.

Wassman said it is important for students to always lock up their bikes. He recommended students use U-bolt locks because they are harder to cut through than other locks.

Morrow said CMU Police have placed an emphasis on bike registration in the past four years in an effort to reduce larcenies and identify stolen bikes.

“It was very apparent that it was an ongoing and continuous problem on campus,” he said.

He said registration does not significantly decrease the chance of a bike being stolen, but there are advantages to having a bike on record. If a bike is located in conjunction with an investigation, Morrow said, it makes it easier to locate the owner.

Although bike thefts have gone up, he said, the return rate of stolen bikes to owners has also increased.

Buckland said she has not registered her bike yet because she does not know the serial number, but she does keep it locked.

Grand Haven freshman Catherine Barnett said she registered her bike online because she was worried about it getting stolen.

“It’s a really nice bike and if it got stolen I wanted it to be found,” she said.

The number of reported bike larcenies each year includes cases where they were later returned. CMU police did not have a figure on how many were recovered and returned those years.

The department has improved the bike registration process, Morrow said. Students can either register their bikes in person at the Combined Services Building or register online at www.cmich.edu/police.

“We have made the system user-friendly,” he said.