Having a bicycle stolen can be a huge setback, especially for a college student.
Chico State Police are taking a new approach to fighting the problem, and they’re doing it with two wheels; the department now has two motorcycles.
They’re both electric, and each costs about $21,000, hoping this will help cut down on the bike thefts.
“When the campus is so busy they just blend in, they put on a Chico State sweatshirt, they’ll throw on a backpack, a ball cap,” said Chico State Police Officer Lance Conlan when talking about the thieves.
He said they get hundreds of reports of stolen bikes every year, many of them in broad daylight, and that’s just the ones people have bothered to report.
“Even though the theft occurred under the nose of probably no less than 10 to 15 direct witnesses, they just never realized what they were seeing,” Conlan said.
They also get at least 15 complaints a day about transients on campus.
“Bicycle theft and other types of petty thefts are directly correlated with the drug addiction here,” Conlan said.
He said heroin and meth can be directly linked.
“They’ll turn over a high value stolen bike for pennies on the dollar.”
He’s hoping the motorcycles will help bring down the crime rate.
“The deterrent factor is just as important as pursuing in places a patrol car couldn’t,” Conlan said.
The motorcycles can go up to 95 miles per hour, and can go more than 150 miles on a single charge.
Five officers have their license to ride, hoping this will help reduce the crime rate.
AJ Abell 