Rachel Yeates, Campus Carrier News Editor
Four bikes were stolen from outside of Morgan and Deerfield residence halls the night of Aug. 17th. The bikes ranged in price from $80 – $2,000. Their locks and cables were cut. Campus police suspect the culprit is unaffiliated with Berry and intends to sell the bikes in pawn shops. The thefts have prompted discussion about campus security.
Spencer Watts, senior and victim of the Aug. 17th bike theft, thinks security cameras should be installed on campus. He remembers several instances of property damage and theft that could have been solved much more easily had there been cameras to record the incidents.
“I had a friend’s car hit, I had my hundred dollar ring stolen this year and my bike,” Watts said. “They have cameras on the eagles, they could put cameras on the parking lots.”
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| Elizabeth Walker, Staff Photojournalist Student secures their bike with a cable lock. |
Junior Ree Palmer also had her bike stolen. However, she is uncomfortable with the idea and does not think they would help.
“I don’t like the thought of having cameras around campus.” Palmer said.
This incident had led to rumors that the number of bike thefts has increased since last year. Chief of police Bobby Abrams disagrees.
“As far as the number [of thefts] campus-wide, we don’t see that.” Abrams said.
Bike thefts do remain of the “most common problems on campus,” Abrams said, but “we generally find a large percentage of those.”
This incident was unique because of the cut bicycle locks. This is what leads police to think the thief was not from Berry.
“I didn’t figure someone would cut [the chain] just to take it across campus.” Watts said.
Watts thinks the thief was looking for more expensive bikes.
Sophomore Chandler Maddox owned a two thousand dollar racing bike. Junior Kyle Harris had Cannondale mountain bike. Watts owned a Giant. Palmer, however, said that her bike was relatively inexpensive.
“I paid $80 for it.” Palmer said. “But it was new and shiny, so I guess they could’ve assumed that it was worth something. They probably spent more on gas than they’d have gotten trying to sell the bicycle.”
Following the incident, Maddox says her feelings of security on campus have changed.
“I thought I was so safe here.” Maddox said. “I guess there’s evil everywhere.”
Harris agrees.
“Now I’m paranoid all the time,” Harris said. “I’ve got a new bike, but it’s in my room … I spent close to a hundred dollars on different things to lock up the wheels and a new lock for it just to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Knowing the culprit was probably not a Berry student influenced Palmer’s reaction.
“It rattled me a little bit that somebody could move four bicycles in the middle of the night without being noticed.” Palmer said. “But it really didn’t affect my feeling of safety on campus.”
Abrams continues to search.
“We’ve been able — with the bikes that we had registered serial numbers – to put that information in a national crime computer,” Abrams said. “So if they show up in a pawn shop or somewhere else … we’ll get a hit on it, and we can recover those bicycles and even make an arrest.”
Neither Palmer nor Maddox had registered their bikes with campus security. The unregistered bikes will be more difficult to track.
Harris went to register his new bike and found an officer on Craig’s List still looking several weeks later. He commends campus police efforts but is not optimistic.
“They’ve been real good looking for it,” Harris said. “It’s just whoever did it knows what they’re doing.”
If you have any information about the thefts please contact Bobby Abrams.