If you get all of your news from the mainstream media, you might think that the most common crimes on university campuses are date rape and other kinds of sexual assault. I am glad that such incidents are now taken seriously; when I was an undergraduate, victims usually suffered in silence.
However, such crimes are not the most common on higher education sites. Nor are other assaults or driving under the influence. None of those crimes comes close, in frequency, to the most common offense of all.
And what might that offense be? Well, because you're reading this blog, you might have guessed: bicycle theft. According to one study, one out of every thirteen bikes students bring with them to school will be stolen. What's equally disturbing, I think, is that only one out of every 315 stolen bikes is recovered.
What's most surprising, though, is the campuses that experience the most theft: those of elite (or, at any rate, expensive) private universities and suburban campuses. In other words, bikes are most often stolen from those campuses that are perceived to be "safe".
Why is that the case? Perhaps students are more likely to let their guard down on such campuses. Or, perhaps, those students come from environments that didn't inculcate them with the wariness of someone from a lower-income, higher-crime area.
My guess, though, is that thieves, being the opportunists they are, go to the campuses where rich kids study and congregate. On such campuses, thieves are more likely to find bikes worth stealing and, most important of all, one that is unlocked. Also, it's not unusual to find bikes that, while locked, have been on the same spot for weeks, or even months, such as when students go on field trips or internships. Sometimes a person who has never before stolen anything in his or her life will assume that such a bike was abandoned and therefore there for the taking.
While some might not think bike theft is a serious problem--and I'm not about to suggest that it's on the same level as sexual assault--for many students, and even faculty and staff members, bicycles are the main (or only) means of transportation. Also, a bike is many a student's most valuable possession. Those, I believe, are reasons to take bike theft on campuses more seriously.
However, such crimes are not the most common on higher education sites. Nor are other assaults or driving under the influence. None of those crimes comes close, in frequency, to the most common offense of all.
And what might that offense be? Well, because you're reading this blog, you might have guessed: bicycle theft. According to one study, one out of every thirteen bikes students bring with them to school will be stolen. What's equally disturbing, I think, is that only one out of every 315 stolen bikes is recovered.
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| From Visual.ly |
What's most surprising, though, is the campuses that experience the most theft: those of elite (or, at any rate, expensive) private universities and suburban campuses. In other words, bikes are most often stolen from those campuses that are perceived to be "safe".
Why is that the case? Perhaps students are more likely to let their guard down on such campuses. Or, perhaps, those students come from environments that didn't inculcate them with the wariness of someone from a lower-income, higher-crime area.
My guess, though, is that thieves, being the opportunists they are, go to the campuses where rich kids study and congregate. On such campuses, thieves are more likely to find bikes worth stealing and, most important of all, one that is unlocked. Also, it's not unusual to find bikes that, while locked, have been on the same spot for weeks, or even months, such as when students go on field trips or internships. Sometimes a person who has never before stolen anything in his or her life will assume that such a bike was abandoned and therefore there for the taking.
While some might not think bike theft is a serious problem--and I'm not about to suggest that it's on the same level as sexual assault--for many students, and even faculty and staff members, bicycles are the main (or only) means of transportation. Also, a bike is many a student's most valuable possession. Those, I believe, are reasons to take bike theft on campuses more seriously.
