KEVIN B. KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Two students narrowly avoid a collision Monday in front of the Center for Creative Photography. Familiarity with campus bike laws can help prevent bike theft. UAPD recommends students register their bikes and use high-quality locks.

With more than 380 bikes reported stolen last year at the UA an expensive bike and lock doesn't always prevent bike theft.

While U-shaped locks and Kryptonite locks usually offer more security than cable locks, UAPD Sergeant Eugene Mejia said bike thieves around campus have been known to cut through any type of lock, making an expensive ride an easy target.

Bike bandits around campus often aren't members of the university community, Mejia said.

Rather, they're often college-aged-looking kids with no affiliation to the UA that are hoping to sell bikes for drug money, Mejia said.

"We're arresting people coming from off campus who are trying to feed a drug addiction," Mejia said. "What they're doing is stealing bicycles and selling them for $10 to $20 a piece."

Mejia said it's hard to tell if someone is stealing a bike or simply undoing their lock because the thieves look like college students and are able to snap the lock in a matter of minutes. Whether they use wire cutters or bolt cutters, the job is usually successful.

Thieves typically go after bikes with cable locks rather than ones with U-locks because cable locks are easier to cut, Mejia said.

"It takes minimal force to break off a lock and if they're

successful, then it's easy for them to blend into the campus community if no one sees the crime being committed," Mejia said.

UAPD relies on observations from students and faculty to catch these thieves in the act; otherwise most of the crimes go undetected, Mejia said.

With a quick call to the dispatcher, Mejia said UAPD officers can respond to a call within two and three minutes to catch a crime in progress or search for a suspect in the nearby area.

It's only because it's a misdemeanor that we get repeat offenders. – Eugene Mejia

Students who register their bikes with Parking and Transportation Services have a better chance of recovering it, said Gary Thompson, associate director of PTS.

"The best option for students is to register their bikes so that if their bike is stolen and recovered, they can be notified," Thompson said.

"If a bike was stolen and recovered, the police have an immediate avenue to recover the owner."

Mejia agreed. "We suggest strongly that all students, staff and employees register their bikes with Parking and Transportation [Services]," Mejia said. "It serves and benefits both the department and the owner."

Mejia said there are several ways to identify stolen bikes that have been recovered if they have been registered with PTS.

"If there's an individual that's acting suspiciously by a bike rack, (UAPD) can run the serial number of the bicycle we have in possession to identify students or a staff member on campus, knowing the bike can belong to someone else," he said. "We can make contact with the owner and find out if he had loaned his bike to someone or whether he is a victim of a bike theft."

UAPD can also find the owner's identity if they find an abandoned bike or see the suspect drop the bike and run off.

The police can then identify the bicycle's owner through its serial number and registration number.

"It's a win-win situation for the police and the owner when bikes are found after being stolen," he said.

Thieves who are caught and arrested often have no reservations about committing the crime again because the punishment is minor, Mejia said.

"What we need to do is make the sufficient number of arrests so that the court is impacted by this returning criminal," Mejia said.

"It's only because it's a misdemeanor that we get repeat offenders who know they won't be spending a lot of time in prison."

Mejia recommended students not bring expensive bikes to campus.