With the arrival of more than 20,000 students for the fall semester, campus will again be filled with bicycles, leaving the next few weeks to become a shopping spree for bicycle thieves.

With more students enrolled in 2010 than in the previous two years, larcenies, including bike thefts, are expected to also rise.

Larceny on campus rose from 231 in 2008 to 305 in 2009, with a rise in bike theft from 81 to 100, said Lt. Bruce Chan, OU Police Department spokesman.

“I believe rises in [larceny] and bike thefts can be credited to more students being enrolled and more students having bikes than ever before,” Chan said.

With stress levels of class, excitement for fall sports and added time for personal clubs and activities approaching, riders must not get caught up and forget to protect their bikes from thieves. Simple things such as registering bikes and locking them up can easily prevent these bike thefts.

Chan said OUPD tries to make registering a bike as convenient as possible. Bikers can register their bikes at either the OU police department or the police office at Cate Center.

The reason for registering a bike is for police to have record of the bike’s serial number, make, model and color. With this information, if a bike is stolen, the police can get it back to its owner. Otherwise, they will be left with a generic bike and will not know who to return it to.

Chan said most people lock their bikes but some are so cautious they take their bike into their apartment or dorm. If students decide to lock their bike on a rack outside, Chan said OUPD prefers for students not to use “flimsy chain locks.”

“Cheap and flimsy locks are very easy to defeat. Small bolt cutters and even wire cutters can defeat cable locks. (Instead), U-bolt locks are more sturdy and a better quality lock,” Chan said.

Chan also said any lock can be defeated, but it would take a cutting torch to defeat a good, sturdy U-lock. Some lock companies will insure a bike up to $3,500, said Ryan Lenhart, an employee at Buchanan Bicycles, 561 Buchanan Ave.

Lenhart said U-locks and also handcuff-type locks are preferred for minimizing bicycle theft. Both types of locks are made by companies that insure bikes.

“Once you buy the lock, you register the bike and lock’s serial numbers,” Lenhart said. “If you come out to a bike rack and your bike is gone but your lock is there and has been defeated, then you send the lock in and will receive your payment from the lock company.”

As for a specific hot spot on campus where bikes are stolen Chan said, “Bicycles can and are stolen from various places on campus. We encourage people to exercise good security precautions everywhere they have a bike on campus.”

If your bike is stolen, go to the OUPD and file a police report. After your report has been documented OUPD will investigate the situation and follow any leads they may have. OUPD will also generate its own leads by checking pawnshops and local bike shops.

“Of all the college towns I’ve lived in, Norman is one of the most biker-friendly and OUPD is very active in finding a bike after it has been stolen,” said Ralph Hamerla, Oklahoma Cycling Club adviser.