Police officer locks students’ bikes

**Student cyclists living on campus could wake up next week to discover their bicycles locked up without their permission.**

Campus police officer Mick Parkes has been attaching free D-locks to bicycles which are only secured with a cable lock outside halls of residence.

Campus residents then have until Monday 28 January to collect the key to the lock from the security gatehouse, after which Mr Parkes will go around and lock all the bicycles whose owners have not collected their keys.

Mr Parkes has given out over 400 free D-locks in this recent initiative, and over 800 in the past two -and-a-half years.

He explains that bicycles secured with cable locks are easy targets for thieves, whereas a D-lock is much safer.

“Cable locks are easy to penetrate using a basic tool,” he said. “A D-lock takes a lot more time and effort, and a lot more force to remove it.”

He said that attempting to steal a bike secured with a D-lock would likely draw attention to the thief, as a noisy tool like an angle grinder would need to be used.

The number of bicycle thefts on campus has declined in recent years, which Mr Parkes attributes to his distribution of D-locks. While in 2010 there were 68 bicycle thefts on campus, 2011 saw only 40 and 2012 only 28.

There are 152 bike racks on campus, catering to 2200 bikes, but not all of these are covered by CCTV. However, some ‘dummy’ bikes – which belong to nobody – are fitted with GPS trackers to deter potential thieves.

The locks, which cost £6.20 each, are funded by selling bicycles which are abandoned by students – particularly international students – when they leave Warwick.

Mr Parkes has generally been thanked by students for giving out the free locks, although he had to deal with one abusive email from a student who was angry about the scheme.

Student cyclists gave the _Boar _their thoughts on Mr Parkes’ scheme.Gage Simpson, a third year Mathematics student, usually leaves his bike in front of the Sports Centre and secures it with both a D-lock and cable lock.

“I thought I’d invest in the best lock since Warwick is a hotspot for thefts,” he said. “I think anyone stupid enough to not invest in a decent lock gets what’s coming to them.”

He said that he thought the D-lock scheme is fair, as long as it is advertised well: “It seems like Parkes is resorting to shock tactics and I like his idea.”

Sam Jenkins, a History and Politics finalist, criticised the scheme. “It’s a commendable idea giving students free D-locks, but it’s poorly thought out,” he said. “I myself would like a free D-lock that I could leave on campus and use when I lock my bike up.

“D-locks are heavy and if I’m lugging books, a laptop and clothes from Leamington I’d rather not be burdened with a weighty lock. Having a solid lock on campus at all times, leaving me with a lighter lock when I nip out to other places, would be very useful, but it appears that I don’t qualify.

“Instead, a better scheme would be offering D-locks to students who feel they would be useful, rather than merely imposing them on campus dwellers. If needs be they could be returned at the end of the year.” Mr Parkes said that students have been adequately informed about the initiative.

Everyone on campus has been sent an email, a notice has been posted on the Students’ Union website, and resident tutors have informed students during kitchen meetings.