Multiple bikes stolen off of Florida Southern property

Students at Florida Southern College are being more cautious of where they keep their bikes at night. Multiple bikes have been stolen from both on campus and at the campus owned apartments this past school year.

According to Bill Carew, Director of Florida Southern College Safety and Security, eight bike thefts have been reported since August 2014. Sam Circelli, a student living in the Lake Morton apartments owned by Florida Southern College, had her bike stolen last semester.

“It 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.”

Most students first reaction when realizing their bike is stolen is to inform safety of the incident.

“When I noticed my bike was stolen the first thing I did was call safety,” McKenzie McMullen, another Florida Southern student living at the Lake Morton apartments said. “The officer who was helping me even brought me to look at bikes that safety had found to see if mine was there.”

However, other students feel as if reporting it to safety is pointless.

“I did not do anything because I did not think anyone would have even cared,” Circelli said. “There are FSC Safety trucks that roam around the Lake Morton apartments every night so I wonder what all they’re keeping safe if they can’t even watch a bike.”

Lake Morton isn’t the only area of Florida Southern being targeted. Clayton Bender, a student living in the Greek housing on campus, reported his bike stolen this past week and posted a photo on Instagram of surveillance video provided by safety.

The safety and security department on campus has certain steps they take in order to help students that are victims of bike theft.

“When a bike is stolen, we try and get a definitive time frame to see if we can observe the theft on our surveillance cameras,” Carew said. “We also encourage the students to contact the LPD to report the theft, so they can check with local pawn shops.”

It is always recommended that students call the Lakeland Police Department to report the theft.

“The officer will check the surrounding areas and if they have a serial number, the bicycle will be entered into our statewide system as stolen,” Sergeant Gary Gross from the Lakeland Police Department said.

There are a few precautions that students can take to prevent their bikes from being stolen.

“Get a good U-Lock for your bicycle as they cannot be cut with wire snips,” Carew said.

It is also important to make sure you keep a record of your bikes serial number. Without the serial number, the police department cannot track a stolen bike in the pawn shop system or identify a bike’s ownership.

“The majority of the victims from bicycle thefts never have a serial number so locating them can be difficult if not impossible,” Gross said.

The ongoing thefts on campus lead to students who once felts safe, lose that sense of security.

“We come to Florida Southern thinking we’ll be safe and that our money, time and energy are going to be spent well,” Circelli said. “But then things like this happen, and it really gets me thinking about how unsafe Lakeland can be.”

Safety is working on implementing new procedures to make student’s property a little safer on campus.

“We are looking into implementing a bicycle registration on campus this next semester,” Carew said.

Many other universities have implemented a bike registration program including Penn State, and the school believes implementing their own will make it easier for students to keep their bikes safe and easier to find if stolen.

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About Bike Theft via bicyclelaw.com

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