page 6
daily nebraskan
tuesday, October 13, 1981
Campus police stress bicycle licensing, security
By Tricia Waters
Last year, 69 bicycles worth $1 1,249 were stolen from
UNL campuses. In the first six weeks of school this year,
about 20 bikes were stolen, worth $5,645.
UNL police started looking into the problem last year.
They will begin a project this month to promote bicycle
licensing, better security measures, awareness of bike theft
problem and understanding of how bikes can be stolen.
Investigator Bob Fey and officers Mark Murphy and
Dan McEntarffer have investigated the bike theft problem
over the last several months. McEntarffer talked to bicy
cle dealers, and Fey and Murphy looked at the situation
on campus.
Last spring on City Campus there were 1,000 bicycles
in racks on an average weekday. Murphy said only 1 per
cent of those weren't secured and about 36 were licensed.
According to theft reports, the average cost of a bike
on campus is $134. The 1,000 bicycles thus are worth
about $134,000.
"We're starting to get a lot more bicycles on campus,"
Murphy said. "People are starting to invest a lot more
money for their bikes. They are securing their bicycles.
But the ways of securing them aren't good. They're us
ing cheapy, cheapy stuff."
McEntarffer said most bicycles that are stolen are lock
ed. Cheap locks
"What we're finding is they're spending $200 on a bike
and buying a $6.98 cable," McEntarffer said. "There's no
use putting a cheap lock on an expensive bike."
Murphy said thieves can cut through cable locks with
vise grips or a pair of pliers in a matter of seconds.
McEntarffer said bicycle dealers recommend a U
shaped Citadel lock for bicycles. The lock can't be cut by
boltcutters or hacksaws, he said. The lock costs $20 to
$30.
Although the Citadel locks are more costly and less
convenient than cable locks, the extra cost proves to be a
good investment, McEntarffer said.
Police also recommend a 38-inch, case hardened chain
and a 716-inch key-locking padlock, Murphy said. De
pending on how much chain is bought, the locks cost
about $15 to $20.
A 14-inch chain can be cut in six seconds and a cable
can be cut in five seconds with a 24-inch pair of boltcut
ters, according to bicycle lock tests.
Murphy said people should check their bicycles every
day if they are kept in one place for long, and report any .
suspicious people around bike racks.
Licensing deters
Because it takes only a few seconds to steal bicycles,
police have a hard time catching a thief in the act, he said.
Murphy said licensing a bike seems to deter thiefs.
"If there's a license on it, it's less likely to be stolen,"
Murphy said. There's no real reason. Maybe they just
don't want to pull off the sticker."
When a bicycle is licensed, a sticker is placed on it and
a license number is engraved on the frame. The serial and
license number are recorded by police and a copy of the
license is given to the owner.
Not all bicycles have serial numbers, McEntarffer said.
People whould make sure their bicycles have some identi
fication number marked on them, he said.
The numbers prove valuable when police recover a sto
len bicycle and try to trace the owner. Without a license,
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bicycles can seldom be traced back to their owners, McEn
tarffer said. Many bicycles end up on the auction block
because they have no licenses and the owners can't be
found, he said.
He said a bicycle worth more than $150 can be enter
ed in state and national computers as stolen property, but
this requires entering the serial number in the computers.
"Of the 20 bikes stolen (since August), only five had
serial numbers to be entered in the crime computer,"
McEntarffer said. The bicycles averaged $225 apiece, he
said.
Bicycle owners can get licenses, required by city ordi
nance, from UNL police and Lincoln police or fire depart
ments. They cost $1. The owner must present a bill of
sale or proof of ownership.
Bicycle patrols
McEntarffer said bicycle dealers recommend that po
lice or students form bicycle patrols to try to catch
thieves. He said some universities have a bicycle club
whose members ride their bikes in groups around campus.
If they see someone around bike racks who doesn't
quite fit in or who has boltcutters, they report it, he said.
Murphy said he and Fey will give demonstrations to
students on how easily a bicycle can be stolen, showing
how ineffective cable locks are for security measures.
They will also promote getting licenses.
"Bicycles are making a worthy target," Murphy said.
There are people around here who buy and steal bicycles
for a living."
"Bicycles are getting hit probably worse than anything
we've got right now " McEntarffer said. "A stolen bicycle
is the most common report we get."
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Bicycles found on UNL campuses are stored at
campus police headquarters. Police said that bikes in
this good of condition were more likely stolen than
abandoned. Twenty bicycles have been stolen since
the beginning of this semester.
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