Protective Services at Washington University School of Medicine

RESULTS OF U-LOCK RAFFLE 2 OF 6 AND MORE ABOUT BIKE SECURITY

Hello All,

As you may know, we are in the midst of our annual Use a U-lock campaign and are spreading the word that cyclists should use sturdy U-locks to secure their bikes on campus.

Today, at a single campus bike rack, I counted seven bikes that had been (un)secured using highly vulnerable cable locks! If you are a regular reader of our page, you know a thief can silently defeat a cable lock in mere seconds using nothing more than $30 cable shears.

Last Friday, we drew the second of our weekly U-lock raffle winners. The lucky community member was Marwa Mikati, a graduate student in the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences. Congratulations, Marwa!

It was great meeting Marwa when she came by the office to pick up her new OnGuard Bulldog DT U-lock today. Marwa seemed very pleased with her new lock. And we know it will keep her bike secure whenever she parks on campus.

If you are a Washington University School of Medicine student or employee and would like to win a U-lock, simply send me an email. We'll enter your name in our four remaining weekly raffles.

Be safe and smart!
Steve Manley
Assistant Director, Protective Services
[email protected]

RESULTS OF U-LOCK DRAWING NO. 1 OF 6

On April 2, 2021, we raffled off the first of six U-locks we are giving away as part of our spring "Use a U-lock" campaign. The lucky winner was Aaron Anderson, a graduate student in the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences.

We still have five new OnGuard U-locks to give away. To quote the lottery folks, "You can't win if you don't play." The only rules to participate in the drawings are 1. You must be a Washington University School of Medicine community member (student, employee, or resident physician) and 2. Only one entry per person. A single entry will make you eligible for all five remaining drawings.

To enter, simply email me at [email protected] with your name and affiliation to the School of Medicine. We'll do the rest.

You may be wondering, "Why do you care how I lock my bike?"

Quite simply, we want your bike to be there waiting for you when you leave campus at the end of your day. The proper use of a U-lock will virtually immunize your bike from theft here on the Medical Campus. On the other hand, if you use a cable lock to "secure" your bike, a thief can silently defeat your cable lock in mere seconds using nothing more than a $30 cable cutter.

If you have questions about bike security or any other crime prevention issue, please email or call me.

Be safe and smart!

Steve Manley
Assistant Director
Protective Services
[email protected]
314-362-0381

Want to win a free U-lock?

Hello All,

We at Protective Services have some good news and bad news for you. First the good news...

With the arrival of spring, many community members will be cycling to school or work here at the Washington University Medical Campus. They will be enjoying the warmer temperatures and sunshine while getting terrific exercise and creating no pollution.

Now the bad news...

With more bicycles on campus, opportunistic thieves will be prowling the bike racks, looking for inadequately-secured bikes to steal.

If you're a long-time reader of our page, you know we're big proponents of using U-locks to secure bikes. Correctly employing a U-lock is a simple, inexpensive way to virtually immunize your bike from theft on campus. Conversely, bike thieves can silently defeat traditional cable locks in mere seconds using only a $20 cable cutter.

From 2017 to 2019, we welcomed the arrival of spring with our "Use a U-lock" campaign. We spread the word about U-locks' effectiveness and raffled off quantities of them each year. COVID-19 derailed our efforts last spring, of course. But since most of the campus community has now been vaccinated, we're launching our fourth iteration of the program.

Next Friday (March 26, 2021), we'll begin raffling off one OnGuard Bulldog DT U-lock and cable set (see image) each week for six weeks. These U-lock sets will provide excellent security for years to come. Washington University School of Medicine students, employees, and BJH/SLCH residents are all eligible to participate. To enter all six drawings, please email me, Steve Manley, [email protected], one time with your name, position, and contact information. We'll randomly draw one name each Friday and contact the winners.

Also during the coming weeks, we'll be pushing out lots of bike security tips and information, so please stay tuned. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Have a great weekend!

Best regards,
Steve