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 Register bicycles with college security By Gene Friedman Bicycles are one of the fastest ways to get around downtown Savannah. Anyone who has tried to get somewhere in the city in a hurry is well aware of that. Like walking, bikes provide a faster commute than cars through the congested streets. As a result, many people, not just SCAD students, ride their bikes in town. While riding through the streets can be quite a challenge, keeping a bike is even more of one. Bikes seem to get lost or stolen more quickly than it takes to lock them up. Many owners dutifully report stolen or missing bicycles to the Savannah College of Art and Design college security office hoping that they will see them once again. In fact, of all the bicycles reported, approximately half are recovered. However, the major challenge faced when a stolen bike is located is matching the owner to the bike. This is usually an exercise in futility, as most people don’t register their bicycles or record the serial numbers in the Safety in Savannah booklet given to all SCAD students. The college security office has been registering bicycles for several years through its Operation Chain Guard program. All SCAD students, faculty and staff can bring their bikes to college security and have them registered. This process is free, easy, and takes no more than a few minutes. Owner and bicycle information are entered into our computer database. A tamper-evident sticker with a unique ID number is then placed on the bicycle. If this sticker is removed, a checkerboard residue remains, indicating that the bike is logged into the college security system. Unfortunately, out of a population of 7,000 students and 1,000 faculty and staff, only about 170 bikes are registered. While not everyone at SCAD has a bike, the percentage of bikes registered is still extremely low. This fact was made even more evident during a recent police raid on a drug house. When the search warrant was served, roughly a dozen bikes were found inside. College security staff members were on the scene during this process. As the police took each bike into evidence, they were inspected for a SCAD sticker. Several of the bikes bore indications that they may have belonged to SCAD students. However, not one of the bicycles was registered with the college security office. If the bikes had been entered into the college security computer, they would already be back in the hands of the owners. Particularly distressing is that during the fall quarter there was a spate of bicycle thefts that caused concern among students. Those bicycles could very well be the ones recovered by the police. There is no way to tell, though. Bicycles may be registered Monday through Friday during regular business hours at the college security office. Although registration provides no guarantee, this is still the surest way to reunite a found bike with its owner. Friedman is director of college security at SCAD. |
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