Eastern’s Police Department recently posted on social media advising students to register their bikes. They say that the registration can help students recover their bike if it is lost or stolen.  

Students can register their bike by stopping by the police station, located at 1801 7th St. and registering with a police officer.  

The department also recommends that students know the serial number that is attached to their bikes.  

Brendan Lynch, the advocacy director at Bike Hike, gave some advice as to what students can do in order to protect their property.  

Bike Hike is a shop located 959 18th St., in Charleston and they service, sell and ride bikes.  

“Obviously job number one is use a lock and a good lock,” Lynch said. “Number two is where you lock the bicycle is extremely important. You want to lock it in visible, well-lit places, preferably with a lot of pedestrian traffic. It’s nice to [place it] close to doorways of buildings because obviously doorways are going to have the most pedestrian traffic”. Additionally, you want to make sure you’re locking the bicycle through the frame, and not just the wheel.”

He goes more in depth about how doing those steps will decrease the chances of a bicycle getting stolen.  

In addition, Lynch states the benefits of registering a bike.  

“The number one benefit of registering a bike is recovery of the bicycle,” Lynch said. “If students didn’t go through the protocol [of how to secure their bikes better], and the bike does get stolen, registration goes a long way in terms of allowing students to recover their bike.”  

Lynch also stresses how important it is for students to know the serial number of their bicycle. He said that it is almost as important as registering the bike. 

Lynch said that the serial number can typically be found under the bike near the crank, or just by googling it.  

Lynch also gave a description of what goes into how people are reunited with their bicycles.  

“The process of recovery is you’re going to work with the police department and the police department, they’re great, both the campus police department and the city police department,” Lynch said. “I’ve worked with both over the years on recovery of stolen bicycles, and I got to tell you, they really do place the effort, they make the effort.” 

Cam’ron Hardy can be reached at 581-2812 or at cahardy@eiu.edu.