Oakland University Police Officer Brad Beldo is in charge of the Oakland University Police Department (OUPD) Bike Registration Program. Next year, students who bring bikes to campus will have to register them with OUPD to prevent theft.

This program started this year and is currently voluntary.

“The next step is to make it mandatory for Housing residents,” Beldo said.

Because bike theft is a large issue on Oakland’s campus, this program will prevent or reduce it, Beldo explained.

With a bike pass, if a bike gets stolen, it can be found quicker. When a bike owner registers, they will get a pass to put on their bike, and each bike will have a different number that can be used to track down the bike.

“The biggest part about [this program] is not only crime prevention, but also property loss prevention,” Beldo said.

These passes will be free for students, and there will be no set number of passes given out. Every four years, students must re-register their bikes.

There are three different ways students can acquire the pass. The first is going straight to Beldo’s office on the first level of Vandenberg Hall.

The second is emailing Beldo at [email protected] and asking for a bicycle registration.

Finally, students can go to OUpolice.com and use the bike registration link under “Services.” Once the paperwork is filled out, the student will receive a bike registration pass and a set of instructions on how to apply it to the bicycle.

OUPD was inspired to create this program from other big state universities. In particular, Michigan State University has a similar program.

“MSU actually has ordinances and polices that state that all bikes on campus must to be registered and parked at a bike rack,” Beldo said.

Colorado State University also has a bike registration, but it costs $10 to acquire the pass. Many other state universities have a bike registration policy to prevent theft.

“According to the National Bike Registry, bicycle theft is the leading property crime on college campuses,” wrote Rosa Belerique of the Daily Titan, California State University’s student newspaper.

The biggest issue OUPD is having is getting the message about these passes out to the student body. At the beginning of the year, Beldo went to floor meetings in the dorms, and he is also working with Housing.

“Next year when registering for Housing, there will be a section, right on the registration, asking if students are bringing bikes to campus, and if the answer is yes, it will go straight to the bike registration link,” Beldo said.

OUPD also plans to make fliers to disperse around campus explaining the program and encouraging students to get a pass as soon as possible.

Beldo wants everyone to feel as safe as possible on campus, and this program is just one more step in making sure this happens.