Over one hundred bicycle thefts were reported to campus security in 2016, an increase on the number of reported thefts in 2015.
UCD campus security’s internal review of services, obtained by the Tribune, notes that the ‘number of reported bike thefts is higher than 2015’. The approximate figure of bikes reported to UCD as stolen from the campus was 70 for 2015.
The figures are from the internal campus security report shows that November was the month where most bike thefts were reported as stolen in 2016 and 2015. Other months which saw a hike in bike thefts were September, August, October and April, with the off-term summer months seeing a drop in reports. In November 2016 twenty-six bikes were reported as stolen to campus services.
‘In November 2016 twenty-six bikes were reported as stolen to campus services’
The report explained that there are several factors behind the rise in bike thefts recorded last year, including an ‘increase in the number of bicycles on campus, better quality bicycles being targeted by thieves, [and] improved levels of reporting to campus services’.
UCD has 4,400 bicycle stands, with the most recent instalment being 87 bike stands by the new Ashfield campus residences block of apartments. An Gardaí Siochana’s crime prevention unit have issued a safety warning to campus security to distribute to students on bike security. The Gardaí advisory statement states students should secure their bikes with a ‘good quality locking device’, and should lock bicycles in a supervised areas covered by CCTV or in view of passers-by.
The number of campus patrols and security reports were increased in 2016, the internal campus services report outlines. Campus services last year extended their foot patrol service to 2am, to better target bike thefts and personal safety issues of students on campus. The number of CCTV cameras on campus has also been increased to 526 cameras. Cameras with enhanced night vision capabilities this year were added to the Water Tower and the top of the Agricultural Science building. The number of cameras monitoring the areas around the James Joyce library building were also doubled and upgraded the report outlined.
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Jack Power Editor