The UW Police Department (UWPD) is cautioning students to keep an especially close watch on their bicycles due to a dramatic increase in bicycle theft around campus, with a string of recent incidents near Lander and Terry Hall and the Health Sciences Building.

“Anytime the weather gets warmer, bicycle theft increases,” UWPD Sgt. Doug Schulz said. “It may be because more people are riding their bikes in the nice weather, but, whatever the reason, it’s a typical yearly occurrence.”

According to a memo from UWPD Chief Vicky Stormo, students should always lock their bicycles when leaving them unattended.

“The best thing is to lock your bike with a U-Lock,” Schulz said, “Most bikes are stolen from cable locks, which are easy to cut through or twist off. U-Locks take much longer to break through. When we have bikes [stolen] with U-Locks, it’s typically at night, when a person can linger around a bike rack for a long time.”

Students should consider using multiple locks. They should also avoid locking their bikes by only the front wheel.

“Sometimes students come back to find nothing but the front wheel and the lock left,” Schulz said.

Officers also urge students to register their bikes with the university, which can be done on the UWPD Web site.

“It’s important for us to have the serial number,” Schulz said. “We do check pawn shops.”

The UWPD has a program specifically designed to find stolen bikes in pawn shops. However, searches for the most recently stolen bicycles have yielded no results.

According to Stormo’s memo, the areas hit most recently and often are the bike racks by Lander and Terry Hall and the Health Sciences Building. The bike racks in front of Kane Hall, as well as the ones near the hospital, have also become common targets.

Sgt. Schulz said that the most popular areas for thieves looking to steal bikes are in the areas near the Burke-Gilman Trail, which afford bike robbers a convenient getaway on their new loot. This makes the C-10 parking area a typical target.

The areas around the Burke-Gilman Trail also coincide with many bus routes, giving thieves an additional getaway option.

Students should also be wary of thieves that are not necessarily out to steal the entire bike. Some thefts have consisted of handlebars, tires or other parts being stolen and the rest of the bike left, still locked up.

These thieves will either sell the parts or use them to make a whole bicycle.

Students should keep an eye out and report all suspicious activity to the police, the memo reported.

Reach reporter Siv Prince at news@thedaily.washington.edu.