Boise State bike theft skyrocketing

When 26 bikes were stolen on Boise State’s campus between Jan. 1 and July 26 of this year, lieutenant Stan Nichols was surprised by the unusually high number. Then, this fall hit.

“We’ve had 29 bikes stolen so far (dating between Aug. 1 and Oct. 11),” Nichols said. “This one is shocking. I’ve never seen bike thefts this high.”

The reasons why this form of petty crime has been so high this year are still up in the air, but the Boise Police Department is working in conjunction with the Boise State Security team to come up with an answer.

A cooperation like this is rare on university campuses, according to Nichols, and gives Boise State the best of both worlds to curb theft.

“When you get your bike stolen, it’s not just a petty crime, it’s a major deal,” Nichols said. “You lost your way of getting around, it’s a major inconvenience.”

For many Boise State students who get their bike stolen, it is the first time they’ve had a crime committed against them.

“We recognize the emotional impact of a bike theft,” said John Kaplan, director of security at Boise State. “For many people, it’s the first time they’re a victim of a crime, which can shake some people. It’s very troubling.”

One of the suspected reasons for the increase in bike theft is Boise’s growth rate. The city’s population has been getting bigger and with that can come an increase in crime.

Another contributing factor is students locking up their bike incorrectly, or not at all.

“It really can be a crime of opportunity–not locking up your bike somewhere and someone just grabs it real quick,” Nichols said.

While there are a million reasons why someone would steal a bike, the security team and police department are taking serious steps to curb the issue.

“We have our own Boise State security officers that take this very seriously, and frankly personally, that these bikes are being stolen,” Kaplan said.

According to Stephen Ritter, a bicycle programs supervisor on campus, they are doing a few things to stop the increase.

The first is the use of bait bikes, scattered around campus, to discourage and arrest thieves. The second is the use of video surveillance around campus to identify the thieves.

“We think we know who some of the thieves are right now,” Nichols said.

So what can students do to further prevent this issue?

“The first thing is U-Bolt locks,” Nichols said. “Get one–they’re at the Cycle Learning Center–and use it.”

Kaplan added that simply having a U-bolt lock isn’t enough–students have to use them.

The second important prevention tactic is to know your bike and record it.

According to Nichols, the first thing everyone should do when someone get their bike is take a picture of it and record the serial number.

“I would love to encourage students to register their bicycles, regardless of value, with the Boise Bike Index,” said Stephanie Kendall, a Boise Police Department crime prevention specialist. “If you lose your bike and we find it, we have the information to get your bike back to you. As of today the national Bike Index program has helped recover its 5,000th bike.”

Bikes that are registered in the Boise Bike Index go into a national database and will alert police regardless of its location. That means if a bike is stolen in Boise but shows up in Chicago, steps can be taken to get it back.

“Registering your bike and knowing your serial number gives you a fighting chance (of getting it back),” Kaplan said.

According to Nichols, around 20 percent of stolen bikes are recovered. Freshman Sailor Hutton was part of that 20 percent this year. Hutton had her bike stolen near the start of the semester, and she recently received an email from the police department saying that they had recovered her bike from a trailer in Meridian.

The police were able to get Hutton’s bike back to her because she had registered it with the Boise Bike Index.

A third step students can take to prevent bike theft is to lock their bikes up in the center of campus on well-used bike racks.

Nichols and his team use a heat map that shows where the majority of theft has taken place.

“Bikes are stolen on the fringe areas of campus, off University, near the Greenbelt,” Nichols said. “Park your bike in well-lit areas and move it.”

Thieves tend to target bikes that haven’t moved in a while, especially ones parked on signs and trees without U-locks.

According to Nichols and Kaplan, the biggest prevention tactic is really just u-locks.

“We think U-Locks, even though they are 40 bucks, are the key,” Nichols said. “How much is your bike worth? Well do you want to have to buy it twice? The 40 bucks is a good investment.”