Students receive free bicycle security marking events to deter thieves

Dozens of university students have received specialist crime prevention advice and free bike-marking to deter and prevent bicycle thefts.

Nottinghamshire Police provided the bike-marking service as part of an event at the University of Nottingham’s University Park campus on October 10.

Students were able to have their bicycles marked for free throughout the day and then registered with the national BikeRegister database.

Two tamper-proof stickers are attached to a bicycle’s frame, and the make, model and a photograph of the bike are recorded along with the details of the registered keeper, which are uploaded to the database.

BikeRegister is recognised as the National Cycle Database and is used by all UK police forces to search for stolen and recovered bicycles.

Crime prevention officer Tom Ford, of Nottinghamshire Police’s Prevention Hub, said: “Our bike-marking events always prove popular with students.

“We’ve registered hundreds of bicycles throughout the force over the past few years.

“Having your bike stolen is an upsetting experience, especially when they are often someone’s pride and joy and expensive to replace.

“This is why we take this type of crime seriously and partner with our universities annually to provide students with the bike-marking service free of charge to proactively deter thieves.

“We would encourage all cyclists to lock their bike with a suitable D-lock, park it securely at recognised cycle parking that is well-lit and covered by CCTV and get their bike security marked and registered as a visible deterrent.”

The anti-tamper stickers act as a deterrent and make it easier for the police to reunite cyclists with their bikes should they be stolen by matching a QR code on a bicycle with information from the database.

Brazen bicycle thieves will not hesitate to specifically target bikes with poor security and therefore it is important that cyclists use a high-quality and suitable bicycle lock.

Nottinghamshire Police recommends a D-lock as the best method to deter potential thieves.

Research indicates that cyclists are up to 83 per cent less likely to have their bike targeted and stolen if it is visibly BikeRegister marked.

The force’s dedicated university policing team and crime prevention officers, alongside security staff from University of Nottingham, spoke with students throughout the day to offer the bike-marking service and provide best-practice advice on how to better protect themselves from bicycle thieves.

The crime prevention officers work collaboratively across force departments and engage with partner organisations to advise on the most appropriate and reasonable ways to reduce crime.

They are part of the force’s Prevention Hub, which is a collaboration between multiple force departments responsible for developing and delivering strategies to prevent crime and disorder throughout the city and county.

Additional bike-marking events are set to take place between 10am and 2pm at the University of Nottingham’s Portland Terrace on October 17, Jubilee Campus on October 24, and Sutton Bonnington campus on October 31.