Bicycle theft is a more common crime than many people might realize. One place where this crime happens quite frequently is on college campuses. Students depend on their bicycles to get to and from class, work and just to have fun. In Colorado Springs, Colorado, a new police initiative is at work, and officers hope it will cut down on the number of bikes stolen -- and to find the people who are stealing them.

The new "Bait Bike" program is being used on the Colorado College campus, where about 55 bicycles were reported stolen each year. This is with a student population of only about 2,000. Cal State University, Fullerton, has about 40,000 students and reported about 10 fewer bikes stolen in 2010. As a result, the Colorado Springs Police Department and Colorado College have teamed up to implement the Bait Bike program, as well as an educational campaign known as "U-Lock or I Steal." The education campaign is meant to inform students of the best bike locks to use, which are called U-Locks.

The Bait Bite program works like this: A bike is put in a bike rack and is locked. A GPS system is on the bait bike and an officer can track where the bike goes from his or her office computer. The GPS system will send the campus resource office an email notifying him that the bicycle is moving. With updates every 30 seconds after that, the officer can tell other officers where the bike can be located.

In most instances, students from Colorado Collage are not the people who are stealing the bicycles. Many are people who are passing through the city or campus, targeting the bikes. The Bait Bike program, though, is working. In the last year, only about a dozen bicycles were stolen in the Colorado College area.

If you have been arrested for this or any other type of theft charge, it's important to understand your rights. An experienced criminal defense attorney will answer your questions and provide information on how to build a strong defense.

Source: fox21news.com, "Bait Bike program helping lower number of bike thefts at Colorado College," Alison Mastrangelo, Aug. 03, 2015