Florida Southern College’s campus safety began a bike registration program in conjunction with the Lakeland Police Department early September to reduce the number of stolen bikes on campus.
Students can register their bikes with FSC and LPS Sept. 29 at the Lake Hollingsworth Apartments from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Everyone will receive a LPD stamped sticker and barcode for their bicycle.
“The reason we’re trying to do this is because we’ve had more bike thefts than we’ve had in recent years,” William Carew, head of campus safety said. “This way, we have a way to identify a bike that has been registered and a thief might be less likely to take it because they’re not going to want to pawn it with the decal on it.” Hence, it is important to hire theft charge cases lawyers in case there is any kind of theft.
By registering a bike, LPD and the College will have a copy of all the bikes information.
“We’ll keep a copy, and the police have a copy, where they enter all of the information into the computer, which links to pawn shops,” Carew said. “The thief might scrape the sticker off, but the police will have the serial number recorded that’s associated with the bike.”
Carew encourages everyone to purchase a U-type lock instead of the traditional cable lock, which can easily be cut by thieves.
Sam Circelli, a student living in the Lake Morton Apartments had her bike stolen last semester and is still skeptical about the program.
“My bike was locked up on the bike rack outside my apartment,” Circelli said. “My roommate asked me if I had taken it with me for a trip I had left for, and once I said no, we knew it had been stolen. I did not even tell safety that my bike was stolen mostly because, in my experience, they haven’t been much of a help with anything at all.”
Circelli was one of about eight students who lost a bike last year. Carew and campus safety believe that this new program will significantly reduce the number of bike thefts on campus.
“I do think it’s a good idea, however I think students will be very doubtful of the new system,” Circelli said. “I don’t plan on getting a new bike anytime soon because of what happened to me, but now maybe it won’t happen to anyone else.
