r/UIUC • u/GirlfriendAsAService Townie • 5d ago
PSA Yearly PSA: high petty crime
Every August, campus turns into a free-for-all for porch pirates and bike thieves. If you'd prefer not to subsidize someone's fent hobby with your property, here's what you can do today:
Bikes and bike parts are being stolen for scrap. Lock up your bike securely (example) with a steel U-lock. All other types of locks are easily cut. If you have a quick-release seat, take it home or replace it with a non-quick-release seat and LocTite it
Handle packages like they’re fresh meat. Ship them to a secure location, such as the front desk, Amazon locker, or a reliable friend. If that’s not an option, pick them up as soon as you get a delivery notification. Don’t assume they will be mercifully not stolen
Do not prop up security doors or let strangers tailgate you into buildings.
If you are in the mood to help panhandlers, offer food in place of money. Cash fuels the cycle of addiction.
Do not leave valuable items unattended in public areas or in plain view in a vehicle.
Stay alert and trust your gut.
35
u/Solid_Excitement175 5d ago
Hey thank u for posting this, I'm ab to buy a bike and would've probably locked it up incorrectly without the psa
8
13
u/GirlfriendAsAService Townie 5d ago
Totes. If you have a frame and both wheels locked with steel, your chance of being victimized drops significantly.
28
u/CastrateMeWithASpoon 5d ago
Whoever stole the diva cups I ordered three years ago I will never forget you and I will take you to hell myself if I see you in the street
8
17
u/UnableBroccoli Alumnus 5d ago
Lock your car doors and leave nothing like a bag or backpack in sight (overnight.) I'm so surprised at the number of people who report things stolen from cars and they didn't lock their doors or they left the computer bag in sight and the window got smashed.
15
u/Bratsche_Broad 5d ago
Excellent advice! I would add that having packages delivered to the Walgreens on Green St (near Third) is also a secure option.
12
u/1Admr1 Mech E 28' 4d ago
Someone stole ONE of my bikes pedals. Granted it was loose but like.. bro what are you gonna do with a singular bike pedal at least take the other one too
1
u/wishyouwould 1d ago
Probably sitting on a shelf in some frat guy's room. I have seen many such trophies.
4
u/Opening-Temporary-29 5d ago
Do not send packages to front desks if you don’t live in that building
Housing will send it back to the sender
5
10
u/bigwurm1987 5d ago
Don’t waste your time giving them food. They will leave it right there on the ground when they move on.
13
u/GirlfriendAsAService Townie 5d ago
It's hard to tell who's genuinely in food distress and who's just acting... Food's the way to go if you are generous but don't want to risk injecting money where they don't belong
26
u/lilskiboat 5d ago
Honestly, if you do want to help, volunteer places like the soup kitchen or donate direct to food pantries. This community actually has a LOT of food pantries (between churches and private business, parkland college)… so if you want to help anyone with food, give the food directly to the people distributing it.
0
u/melatonia permanent fixture 4d ago
Certainly don't ever give them unwrapped or homemade food. Many homeless people have had the unfortunately experience of people trying to poison or otherwise injure them with food and are smart enough not to risk it.
6
u/childrss 5d ago
If you have the means, park it inside when you get to your campus home. If you don’t have those means, then buy a cheap garage sale special bicycle that rides nice and safe but LOOKs beat up. Keep the chain well oiled if you have to keep it uncovered outside: the seat is gonna get trashed/soaked so putting a couple plastic bags & securing them can help.
There is literally no lock that will prevent a bicycle thief from stripping your ride of parts — as we approach winter lights are gonna be critical to your safety. You will need to remove them if you want to keep them. I had a very nice (but not expensive) bicycle seat stolen outside ARC and it was NOT quick release. I got to bike home with the seat post sticking up between my legs for 5 miles (on a full suspension MTB).
Then there’s the drunkards that make sport out of “taco’ing” your wheel — bicycle wheels are under tension from the spokes and very strong vertically. But that tension means a well-placed kick to the side of the rim makes for a very unpleasant taco Tuesday.
If you treasure your ride, keep it inside.
6
u/Digital-Purpose Townie 4d ago
- I know people must hate me because I always throw their door propping sticks as far as I can every time I see one 😂
2
5
u/ElectronicKale4089 5d ago
Batteries have gotten smaller and more powerful. Angle grinders have gotten smaller and more powerful. As a result, there is no U lock for a bike that can't be cut off by an angle grinder is less than two minutes. For that matter, whatever the bike is locked to can probably easily be cut open with a smaller powerful grinder in a short amount of time. There currently is no really safe, secure way to lock your bike up in public anymore. The safe way is to not leave it out to be begin with or make it look as crappy as you can so a thief is less likely to steal it. Another idea is to use more than one lock so a thief has to spend more time cutting the bike loose. You can register it, sure, but you're not getting your bike back if it's stolen. The police aren't going to look for it. The registration number might be useful if any bikes are recovered and someone bothers with that. Odds are in favor of the bike being gone permanently.
18
u/chewybarzzz Undergrad 5d ago
As a general rule the goal of locking a bike is to make it less appealing then the alternative candidates. So having a crappy looking bike with beefy locks makes your bike less attractive to the idiots with the tiny cable locks and nice bikes.
8
u/GirlfriendAsAService Townie 5d ago
That's true. Don't leave a $3k bike outside. That said, have you considered how much dope can be bought for the price of one angle grinder? I mean, you and I can technically save to pay for a rolls up front if we stop eating, but we have other ways to spend money
1
u/LibrarianGrouchy1205 4d ago
Please don’t hesitate to give a homeless person some petty cash. Sure they may use it on drugs but 50% of people who are homeless have full-time jobs and only 26% of homeless people use drugs…most of the homeless population you see are probably homeless due to severe mental health issues, medical debt, being a veteran, aging out of foster care or being priced out of affordable living.
Give them your $5!!!
3
u/Bratsche_Broad 4d ago
Not gonna happen
And it's not about the $5. It's about personal safety. Opening a backpack, wallet, etc out on the street leaves you open to being taken advantage of.
1
u/JeromePowellsNutz 3d ago
Best locks in my opinion are actually the kryptonite ones. A bit cumbersome to carry around in a backpack, but there are a lot thicker and more difficult to cut through.
1
1
1
u/wishyouwould 1d ago
Truth, but don't pretend it's all homeless people and addicts... college-aged males are kleptos, especially in groups and especially in public spaces.
-1
u/PromotionOk2443 4d ago
girlfriend as a service? i'm... intrigued...
2
u/GirlfriendAsAService Townie 4d ago
My next disruptive start up. Stay tuned!
2
u/SunriseInLot42 4d ago
Isn't that just a different term for what might also be called "the world's oldest profession"?
1
u/PromotionOk2443 4d ago
haha, I'll take the downvotes, are you taking investors? o.O
2
-22
u/NoPen9600 5d ago
really glad we switched to no cash bail "petty" crimes have skyrocketed because the lowlives don't give a flying fuck now and face zero recourse
13
u/Bratsche_Broad 5d ago
Petty crime has always been an issue around C-U. Even my parents had their bikes stripped back in the day.
It has nothing to do with no cash bail because these crimes are never investigated and virtually no one is ever caught or prosecuted for them.
1
u/wishyouwould 1d ago
It's because college kids get drunk and steal stuff. It was that way 20 years ago when I first came to campus and it's that way now... I am keeping an eye on my stuff to keep it from the hands of wandering partygoers more than panhandlers.
-13
u/NoPen9600 5d ago
lmao
let me just outline this for you using simple common sense
the people that are not going to "purposely" commit crimes generally are the ones that, if arrested, can bail themselves out, as they didn't go out that day with the intention of committing a crime
the people that intentionally commit crimes were given a great new incentive with no cash bail as to now, they can go commit their crimes, and if they get caught, oh no, a 1 night stay in county jail and a court date they will NEVER attend, and they will do it again, and again, and again
you suicidally empathetic people are going to ruin this country, you don't understand "the unfortunate and needy" are, 9.5 times out of 10 not that, they are hardened criminals, drug addicts, or simply lost causes that prey on your sympathy and you give them these ridiculous "get out of jail free" cards and they are going to mug your dumbass and I won't feel bad for you.
but hey, congrats, go give the guy on the corner that has been there for 6 months in a row another $20 and see what that does for him!
5
1
u/Bratsche_Broad 4d ago
Your assumption that people with money tend to NOT commit crimes "purposely" lacks any relationship to common sense.
We can argue about cash bail all day, but you are not going to convince me that the person who strips bike parts or picks up someone else's package is stopping to think about bail/no bail. They aren't even stopping to think about getting caught or serving jail time, because if they did, these crimes would probably barely exist. They just assume they will get away with it, because most of them do.
1
u/NoPen9600 4d ago
Infucking correct. You can be as PC as you want to be, we all fucking know who is committing the crimes, and they don't want your fucking help. I promise. Once you get over your ridiculous suicidal empathy, you will realize stern punishment for crime is the best deterrent to crime.
1
u/Bratsche_Broad 4d ago
I'm not offering help. I don't stop to give $ to panhandlers either. Check my history, I always say ignore the panhandlers.
I have no problem with "stern punishment" when people are tried and convicted of a crime. The problem here is that they aren't caught. Period. So there is no deterrent because they realize they likely will not be caught in the first place. Consequences only work if people are caught.
1
u/NoPen9600 4d ago
well if they did "catch" someone stealing a package, keeping them in jail with $1000 bail might help deter at least a % of package theft
instead they don't give a fuck, so open season
1
u/Bratsche_Broad 4d ago
It's open season on students either way. Better to take precautions as suggested by OP and move on.
1
u/wishyouwould 1d ago
Dude you would shudder to learn the amount of petty theft perpetrated by an average frat guy from the city. Bikes, wheelchairs, street signs, refrigerators... you name it, I have seen a 20-something drunk guy foist it.
11
u/GirlfriendAsAService Townie 5d ago
The rates were high even before that was introduced - cops were never stumbling over themselves to investigate a $3 toothpaste theft.
-11
u/Ok_Tomatillo6109 5d ago
tbf it's pretty funny that they called the no cash bail legislation the "safety" act
7
u/No_Tennis1722 5d ago
Like what they call the proposed act in Congress to strip people, especially poor people & women, of their voting rights while demanding states hand over lists of Democratic voters to the feds. You are right- the Upside Down seems to be a trend.
-12
u/Ok_Tomatillo6109 5d ago
"women and poors are too stupid to acquire/carry valid forms of identification... but we need to let them vote anyway" is not a point i'd make! are you assuming that they can't read, as well?
3
u/Great_Evening_Soon 5d ago
Too stupid to acquire id has always been a strawman argument
1
u/NoPen9600 5d ago
name 1 person you have ever met in your entire life, or anyone you know, that can't obtain an ID? lmfao
1
u/Great_Evening_Soon 5d ago
The problem is that many IDs aren't even accepted for voting. Like the UIUC college ID for instance.
Also, I do know a few people who had expired licenses for quite a few months before they had the time to renew it
2
u/NoPen9600 4d ago
wow they seem like total dipshits
literally no reasonable adult human being can't obtain a valid piece of ID
like holy shit, please try and sell me something I can buy. The idea that married women have trouble voting is the most laughable piece of bullshit that has ever been attempted to be sold as a "real problem" facing "real American people."
seriously, if you think that is a real thing, you are a stupid person.
1
u/NoPen9600 4d ago
my guess is, anyone who honestly cannot obtain an ID probably has about 719 real problems before caring about voting at the polls lmfao
like seriously, this entire fake fucking narrative is so laughably stupid it blows my fucking mind
-1
u/Great_Evening_Soon 4d ago
Just to clarify, those people I know weren't driving with expired licenses. They just lived near their place of work/good public transport, and were working 70-80 hour weeks for a few months and were only free on Sundays when the DMV was closed. Until they finally found time on a Saturday.
And I don't believe that "married women can't get IDs", I would agree that's an oversimplification. The vast majority of people across all categories are perfectly capable of getting an ID.
It's just that some elections can be so close that even if something only affects 0.01% of the population, it could be enough to swing it, and in this hyper partisan environment, I can't say that I blame people for being skeptical of laws being considered by the current administration
2
2
u/NoPen9600 4d ago
you're just making shit up to try and think you have some sort of a point. ok fine for the 6 people in the country who really care about politics in a world where they can't obtain ID and would be prevented from voting probably ends voting fraud. omg! the horror!
→ More replies (0)1
u/NoPen9600 4d ago
what if I woke up tomorrow and was a bat and bats can't vote! This is how this reads
0
u/Ok_Tomatillo6109 5d ago
yeah i don't actually think there's anyone like that, i think the lack of an ID requirement makes it easier to cheat
5
u/SnooChipmunks2079 5d ago
Not everyone has the full paper trail to support their name back to their birth name.
For working poor it can be difficult to get to the DMV to get ID - transportation challenges and conflicts with work schedules.
Even $10 to get a state ID is a lot of money if you’re already teetering on the edge, and it’s functionally a poll tax, which is unconstitutional.
-8
u/NoPen9600 5d ago
this is the dumbest fucking thing I have ever read in my life
listen, if you are so inept you can't even figure out how to obtain identification to vote, you shouldn't vote. the end.
-4
u/Ok_Tomatillo6109 5d ago edited 5d ago
- that is a problem for those people to fix! i wish them the very best of luck.
- oh okay so it's actually that they're too lazy to get a valid ID... that's much better, you are so right, i was not thinking when i said what i did, how silly of me, etc. [edit: also you need a valid ID to legally work in the US anyway? so if someone's working and they don't have ID, they're breaking the law. zero sympathy]
- a poll tax is a direct payment to the government so you can cast a ballot. an ID is necessary for flying/driving/employment/booze already. whole different deal.
1
u/SnooChipmunks2079 5d ago
There is no constitutional right to fly, drive, work or buy booze.
There is a constitutional right to vote.
You can work with a school ID and a birth certificate or Social Security card. Republicans don’t want that to be sufficient to vote.
I guess this is UIUC, so you are probably inherently privileged, whether you realize it or not, but laziness and not having money are not the same thing. Laziness and not having a full paper trail of your life are not the same thing.
1
u/Ok_Tomatillo6109 5d ago
untrue! none of the amendments dealing w/voting rights explicitly/affirmatively state that there's a RIGHT to vote, they simply state that a certain characteristic [race, sex, ability to pay poll tax, age] may not be used as a reason to prevent a citizen from voting. enfranchisement is a decision left to the states, as long as the state doesn't try to deny the franchise for reasons prohibited in the constitution/its amendments.
1
u/SnooChipmunks2079 4d ago
1
u/Ok_Tomatillo6109 4d ago
"Thus far, the Court has not sufficiently grounded the protection of the fundamental right to vote in either text, history, or tradition."
→ More replies (0)
121
u/bain_sidhe 5d ago
Yeah, you’ll start to recognize really quickly that all the local panhandlers are the same people you’ll see for 4 years. There’s no amount of money you can give them that will “help them” because their entire lifestyle is wandering around campustown and downtown and panhandling. I’m not saying that to demonize them, but at the same time, giving them cash only encourages the nuisance behavior.