Efforts to end bike theft at NEIU start with the bike riders themselves. With the coming of warm weather, the Independent sat down with Sgt. Schulz to discuss tips and useful information that is essential for every NEIU bike rider to know.

One of the first and foremost prevention methods is buying a good lock. Recommended are the Kryptonite U-shaped locks. In Schulz’s 31 years of experience as a Chicago policeman, he has never seen a case where a bike has been stolen using that lock.

Second, it’s important for bike riders to get their bikes registered. Bike registration forms are at every Chicago police station, but NEIU students can find these forms at the local campus station. “If their bike gets stolen, we know what the serial number is, and it’s already registered. I used to run serial numbers on bikes all the time,” said Schulz.

Another great tip is for bike riders to park their bikes on group racks located around the center of campus. Campus police are currently working towards getting more centralized bike racks at the school. Avoid parking bikes around the edges of the campus and undesignated bike locations like stop signs, poles, fences, etc.

NOTE: Parking bikes on the fences and trees on campus is now a punishable offense, and offenders will have their bike taken to the campus police station where they will have to pick it up.

“If you see somebody by a bike rack that doesn’t look like they’re a student here, or you see somebody with bolt cutters, or you see somebody trying to remove a part of a bike, call us right away. The blue phones are out there or call the department right away, we’ll be on it as fast as we can,” said Schulz.