It was a Friday, 3:55 in the afternoon, when the bell rang. I made my way through my usual route, down the stairs from the 3rd floor to the main entrance so I could enjoy the last drops of the summer sun. As I made my way to the south side of the school the weather was perfect, almost room temperature, and the sun’s rays glistened down on me like a warm shower after a long day. I had planned to ride my bike back home like most days, after all I had ridden it here. The long week of school, homework, and sports, left me weary. I fantasized about all the things I could do with my time until I stopped- wait where did my bike go? I was behind the cafeteria where I normally parked my bike. Then my memory caught up with me, I had forgotten that I parked my bike on the east side of the school, facing 17th street. Ah that’s where it was, until that bike rack was missing something. My bike was not there, but my helmet was. The school must have moved it I thought, it didn’t even register in my head that someone had stolen it. In that one afternoon I went through all the stages of grief. I had that bike for six years, I cared for it, tuned it, fixed it, and put on nice orange petals. After waiting for a ride, filing a report, and calling bike shops, I began to get curious about bike theft and wondered how this could happen, why, and how I could prevent my Friday from being tainted by local menaces.
Based on FBI statistics, there are 175,200 bikes that get stolen each year in America and, according to the Boulder police department, there have been a total of 857 bikes stolen in Boulder, last year. That number probably isn’t even accurate because it is only the number of reported stolen bikes, there are probably 5 times the number of thefts since only ⅕ stolen bikes tend to be reported.
Bike theft is not only a national problem, it is also a problem of Boulder County, and even a problem to our school. Marcus Askins, our school’s safety advocate, claimed that
“Reported thefts have been as high as once or twice a week to as low as once every several weeks. In addition to that, not all thefts are reported immediately. ” This means that if you are biking to school you run a serious risk of having your bike stolen.
“Probably the biggest driving force behind bike theft is opportunity” is what the Boulder Police Department said regarding bike theft incentive. “Because of their mobility, they can be easily ridden away, and often the penalty for stealing them is low.”. This makes sense, bikes are often left out, unattended for hours on end in public places and there is usually minimal risk compared to robbing a house or a car. If you have bolt cutters and see a bike locked up with a crappy lock, it’s basically a quick 500 bucks right there.
Stolen bikes, once stolen, will usually end up being “sold to another person or they are taken apart and the individual parts are sold. Sometimes the bike thief keeps the bike for their personal use.” However the Boulder Police Department claims that “there are indications that many high-end bikes are being transported to Mexico to be resold.”
How do we make sure bikes are not stolen? There is one unanimous piece of advice and it is to use a quality, metal, U-lock. Even then, bike thieves can still get through a tough metal lock, so you can use two U locks, one on the front tire and another on the back tire. Overall if you use a U lock your odds of bike theft will dramatically decrease compared to a cable one. You should park your bike in a secure location and in well lit and populated areas. Lastly registering your bike on the bike index will help law enforcement know if a stolen bike is yours if it unfortunately does get stolen.
If your bike has been stolen you should get it reported to the police and if it happened here at Boulder High, file an incident report. It may be recovered, but your odds are pretty low. Getting your bike stolen can feel like an invasion of your property and the best way to avoid it is to take the necessary steps.
