Lincoln NE June 25 2012 On the reality TV show “Bait Car,” police park GPS-rigged vehicles -- unlocked and with keys inside -- then wait for an unsuspecting thief to bite.On the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus, police are doing the same thing -- with bicycles.
The UNL Police Department has been using GPS trackers to catch bike thieves since late 2010, Sgt. John Backer said.
“It is not the most serious problem on campus, but is one of the most prevalent and persistent,” he said. “We try to focus our efforts on the crimes students have to deal with, and (bike theft) is a top spot for that.”
Ninety-three bicycle thefts were reported on campus in 2011, down from 115 the year before. But it’s too early to tell whether the downward trend will continue, Backer said. The annual average is 94.5 bike thefts.
UNL police generally see a spike of reported thefts in September and October, shortly after the start of the fall semester, and a smaller increase in April and May, coinciding with the end of the spring semester, Backer said.
The department uses several bikes it acquired as abandoned property to run the stings.
“It’s not like we’re putting out the best bike out on the market. We’re just putting out an average bicycle because that is what is being stolen,” Backer said.
Officers leave the bike unattended and unlocked in a public place. Typically, Backer said, it’s stolen within four or five hours.
When the GPS indicates the bike has moved beyond a predetermined perimeter, dispatch is notified and officers move, usually catching the two-wheel larcenist with feet still on the pedals. Police also use the university’s camera network to record thefts.
Officers run the sting as often as staffing allows, Backer said, although they don’t do it on days they'll be too busy to retrieve a bike.
They also don’t do it on bitterly cold days for fear of damaging the GPS unit. Winter months are the slowest for bike thefts anyway, he added.
Backer said the department conducted similar operations for years before getting GPS technology, just less often because it required one officer to watch the bike while another waited nearby to catch the thief.
New technology simply has made it much more efficient.
Source:journalstar.com
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