Bike thefts dominate SCAD’s spring crime logs

Art by Rachel Reidland

This spring has seen a spike in bicycle thefts at SCAD Savannah. Art by Rachel Reidland.

The SCAD crime reports for April and May are in, and this time around the keyword is theft.

Savannah students seem to have kicked their liquor law violation habit (or they just learned their lesson and started hiding it better) and exchanged it for a more troublesome thievery one. Of the 12 crimes reported at SCAD Savannah between the beginning of April and early May, a whopping 11 were theft, according to SCAD Security reports obtained by District.

SCAD Security officials said that the majority of these incidents were bike thefts. Warmer weather means more people are riding bikes, which means more are out there to steal. On April 25, SCAD Security addressed the rash of thefts in an email sent to all students, saying that “in the vast majority of bicycle thefts, bicycles were unlocked, improperly locked or locked with inadequate locking devices such as lightweight cables or chains or low-quality U-lock devices.”

SCAD Security recommended high-end U-locks for maximum protection. They then explained the correct way to use a U-lock: fasten it through the front tire, frame and bike rack. In addition, try only to use approved racks. Students can register their bicycles at the SCAD Security office located at 345 Bull St. to increase the likelihood of recovery in case of theft. Be cautious and diligent about security when leaving your bike unattended, and remember that, if possible, the safest place for it is inside and out of sight.

As far as locations go, the larcenists struck Morris Hall twice in three days. Pulaski, Montgomery and Oglethorpe Houses, as well as Barnard and Boundary Villages each suffered one incident each. Arnold, Eichberg and Haymans Halls were also the sites of reported thefts, according to reports.

No freshman residence halls were touched. There were no reported crimes in any of the freshman houses in the last two months, in fact. This is in contrast to the January-March period, when most of the crimes reported came from the freshman residence halls. Do we have better-behaved first-years on our hands, or have they just learned to be sneakier?

There was only one crime reported that wasn’t related to theft: a drug law violation in Montgomery House. In the January-March period, three of the eight drug law violations in SCAD Savannah came from Montgomery House, too. If the goal this time around was good behavior when it came to substances, Monty missed the memo. But if we’re still locked in competition for “most violations per dorm,” then we have a clear winner.

This time there were only three crimes reported in Atlanta, according to the crime log. There was another theft at the main campus – proving that our peers to the northwest aren’t so different from us, after all – and, more worryingly, two sexual assaults.

Both assaults allegedly occurred in Spring House on the same night, 45 minutes apart. It is unclear whether these incidents were separate or related, or if they were actually the same incident.

SCAD Security officials, citing confidentiality, declined to comment beyond the crime log about the alleged sexual assaults.

No arrests were made on either campus. Just lots and lots of reports filed.

Visit SCAD Security’s webpage to view daily logs of SCAD Security incidents as well as an annual security report.