From January to October, there were 40 reported bike thefts on campus, according to the daily crime logs of campus police. There were 20 thefts in October alone.

In an effort to promote student safety and bike theft prevention, the Cerritos campus police along with ASCC, have put together a bike registration program.

ASCC purchased 40 U-locks while the Bookstore donated 5 of the locks. During the first week of the semester, cadets were on campus handing out registration cards.

The registration program is free to all students. Once a student has filled out a registration card, they are automatically in the raffle which will take place in the first week of February.

“We would like to get every bicycle on campus registered with campus police that way if there’s any issues, it’s easier for campus police to locate the bike and the owner, “ said Amna Jara, the student activities coordinator.

She added that since ASCC is the liaison between students and campus police, they are working together to keep students informed about safety programs on campus.

According to Jara, there are future plans for a centralized bike station which would be guarded.

Interim Police Chief Tom Gallivan said, “The bike registration is nothing new, although new to Cerritos is not new to other colleges.”

According to Gallivan the main point of having your bicycle registered is that by registering the bike’s serial number with campus police, it would be easier to identify a stolen bike.

“If by chance a police officer stops someone riding a bike in Oakland, the officer could turn the bike over, run the serial number and we can locate the owner,” he added.

Gallivan encourages students to come in on their own to register their bikes, keep track of the serial number and the lock.

Campus police also compiled a pamphlet to inform ways on how to prevent bike theft.