Every year, campus police auctions off more than 150 bicycles that have been lost or stolen and can’t be traced to their original owners.

Because of this, the department of public safety has a few suggestions about preventing bike theft.

Police recommend that students register their bikes with the state immediately after purchase. All police departments in Illinois share a database of registered bicycles that they use when they find bikes that have been lost or stolen.

“The second thing is not to have a lot of attractive accessories,” said Sgt. Samuel-Louis Bandy Jr, an officer with the University Police. “If it’s able to be taken off, don’t assume someone won’t try.”

University Police Sgt. Todd Henert said no reports of stolen bikes have been filed this semester.

“We have had absolutely not one report of a stolen bicycle – not since the beginning of school,” Henert said. “We had an item stolen off a bike once this year, but that’s it.”

Off campus, the DeKalb Police Department reported that 174 bikes have been stolen since January. Seventy-two of those have been recovered.

Not having a proper lock for a bike is one reason that thieves choose one bike over another. Bandy recommends getting a kryptonite lock.

“We can’t even cut these with bolt cutters,” he said.

Lastly, police recommend reporting the theft immediately and to the appropriate department.

“Call the police department of the location where the item was last seen in good order,” Bandy said.

Failing to follow these steps may mean a lost or stolen bike will end up on the auction block.

“Every year we recover over 150 bicycles that never get matched to an owner,” Bandy said.

Many of the bikes that were auctioned probably were not stolen on campus, he said.

“I recovered one about three years ago, from a student, that was stolen out of Rockford,” Bandy said. “That particular one, the serial number was in the computer.”

Campus police sometimes find bikes in strange places. Finding bikes in bodies of water is not unusual, Bandy said. He once pulled one out of the Kishwaukee River, he said.

“We only found one when the East Lagoon was drained,” Bandy said. “We expected more.”

The DeKalb police and campus police had their auctions for this year. The next auction will be held in summer 2003.