For most of us, Dartmouth seems too safe and sheltered for true crime to be a threat after all, we don't go to school in New Haven or something. As a result, many students simply leave their bikes unlocked, practically inviting thieves. The bicycle registration section of Dartmouth's Safety and Security website encourages owners to "reduce your chance of being a victim by locking your bike to an immovable object with a good lock." Kinne said that students often fail to heed this advice, leaving many bicycles unlocked all around campus.
"Often times a bike is taken from one location on campus and dumped at another because a lot of them aren't locked, which means anybody can take them," Kinne said.
Many students who report stolen bikes are themselves guilty of forgetfulness, and not all of these reports are grounded in truth.
"I thought I had left my bike in front of Collis and couldn't find it for three weeks," Emily Uniman '15 said. "Turns out I left it next to Moore."
Other students are victims of practical jokes.
"My bike was stolen from outside of Russell Sage in the middle of a Saturday night, so I really think someone had probably been drinking and thought it would be fun to steal a bike," Christine Kanoff '15 said.
Although she reported the theft, Safety and Security could not assist Kanoff in her search because her bike was unregistered. Registration is a key factor in finding stolen bikes, according to Kinne.
"What we find is that if a bike is registered with us, we have a high success rate of getting the bike back to the person," Kinne said.
Luckily, however, Kanoff found her bicycle outside of North Massachusetts Hall two weeks later.
"I never found out who stole it, but I just took it back once I saw it," she said. "I use a lock now."
Unfortunately, since almost none of the thieves are found, the College cannot take any legitimate measures to curb the thefts, Kinne said.
In certain instances, however, bike theft victims are able to find the perpetrators.
"My friend got his bike stolen his senior year, and he reported it to the police," Erin Fucigna '12 said. "Then at the end of his senior spring, his friend found the guy who stole his bike."
From my experience, many bicycle kleptomaniacs lurking throughout campus are bold, riding their stolen booty without any hesitation. Many bikes are simply never found, some secretly driven by thieves and others discarded and forgotten. What happens to these abandoned two-wheelers? Well, without registration and proof of ownership, many stolen bikes cannot be claimed.
"There are a lot of missing bikes who have no owners," Kinne said. "What we find is that there are bikes just lying on the ground, unclaimed and not locked up."
So for all those students upset about their supposedly stolen bikes, check out 5 Rope Ferry you just might find your missing bicycle! Students are actually required, to register their bikes and secure them with decent locks to the designated bike racks around campus. The fact that many fail to comply with even these relatively hassle-free guidelines perhaps demonstrates how little concern students have for security issues on campus.
"You cut your chances of losing your bike by probably 90 percent by simply registering and locking your bike," Kinne said.
