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ASU Police round up abandoned bikes for future sales

(Photo Courtesy of Julie Newberg)
(Photo Courtesy of Julie Newberg)

(Photo Courtesy of Julie Newberg) (Photo Courtesy of Julie Newberg)

Starting May 19, ASU Police will remove bicycles that they deemed abandoned and will transport them to the ASU Surplus Property for sales.

 

The ASU Surplus Property is near the Tempe campus on the intersection of Rio Salado Parkway and Price Road. It handles excess property and holds auctions and sales for items such as computers, monitors and bicycles.

 

ASU Police has been checking out every bike rack on all ASU campuses to tag bikes since mid April so that bike owners could have about a month to take off the tag before the removal dates.

 

 

If a student or staff member finds a police tag on their bicycle, the police department’s Facebook page advises them to remove the tag so that police know the bike is not truly abandoned.

 

Kerry Suson, materials manager at the ASU Surplus Property, said in an email the bikes are removed once a year after the residence halls close and classes conclude for the year.

Each year, ASU Police brings an estimated 300-500 bikes to the surplus property, but many of them are damaged and have missing wheels, seats and other vital parts, Suson said.

Even though the ASU Surplus Property sells the bikes police give them, it does not begin to sell them to the public right away.

“The bikes are impounded until September 1,” Suson said. “Then we begin to sell them. Right now we are still selling the bikes from last May, so we have them for sale almost year-round.”

If a person’s bicycle is taken and they want it back, they will need to prove ownership to the surplus property, Suson said.

 

ASU PD Officer Laura Gill, who is in charge of the operation, said that to get the word out, the department posted articles in the Polytechnic newsletter and ASU news.

While ASU Police coordinates the bike roundup, ASU Surplus Property is a big help with implementation.

Gill said the company helps police by transporting large trucks and adequate storage space.

 

The whole concept is that police need to remove bikes that are left behind because if they do not, bike racks tend to fill up, and that has a potential to have a greater risk of bike theft, she said.

 

 

Applied biomedical sciences freshman Molly Fifield rode a bike around campus this year and said she is happy about the cleanup as long as people are properly informed.

“(The bike roundup effort) sounds good, because people shouldn’t leave their bikes, but I have a feeling this is going to cause a lot of trouble if the police do not alert everyone properly,” she said. “As long as they let everyone know, I’m all for it.”

For questions or concerns about the movement, Gill recommended that students and staff call the police dispatch who will transfer the call to her if they are unable to answer the questions.

Reach the reporter at chesey.ballarte@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @chelseyballarte

 


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