If students at Sacramento State lock their bicycle to a pole, staircase or tree this semester, it might not be there when they return.

Sac State Police Department will remove any bicycles locked outside of designated areas, enforcing new regulations that began this semester.

Campus police feel it is necessary because locking a bike to a tree, pole or handrail can cause damages as well as clutter pathways and violate accessible design standards for people with disabilities.

“The Police Department will occasionally post notices on bikes and other equipment that are tethered to posts, handrails, etc.,” said Mark Iwasa, Police Chief for Sac State Police. “Those notices will advise the owner to remove the equipment within a specified time or the lock will be removed and the equipment stored at the Police Department until claimed.”

On the first day of school, the University Union posted approximately 8 notifications on bikes locked illegally to poles on the perimeter of the Union.

The notifications cautioned that bikes must be locked in one of three designated areas on campus: the compound at Guy West Bridge, a smaller compound between Benicia Hall and the Academic Information Resource Center and the third compound located at the corner of Sinclair Road and Moraga Way.

“We have seen bikes locked on trees, poles and staircases,” said Marco Lopez, Union building supervisor. “University Transportation & Parking Services and campus police may fine but personally we will not. We just inform you to please not lock your bikes here and say thank you in hopes for the problem to end.”

The new bike and skateboard compounds have an officer on site from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays during the academic year.

There will also be free registration at all bicycle compounds. Community service officers will register and photograph skateboards, bicycles, or scooters to make identification easier and safer.

Community service officer Jacob Wilhelm said the compound has remained half-full the first few days and people have been thankful for this service.

“I like it. It’s making it safer and will reduce bike thefts,” said Liz Schneider, mechanical engineering major. “I hate people who ride through the quad. It is a little inconvenient for us bikers but a lot more convenient for everyone.”

However, the skateboard and scooter community are not as responsive to the new compounds.

According to Wilhelm, “no one has been using the skateboard and scooter locks.”

The AIRC compound has yet to have a skateboard or scooter check in.

Economics major Prune Dhillon has been riding his skateboard for the past three years and said he does not like the new rules. He feels they have stopped him from getting to class his own way.

“I would rather hold my skateboard than leave it in the locks,” Dhillon said.

If your bike, scooter, skateboard or other wheeled device has been removed, you can call Sacramento State Police Department at 278-6851 or go to their office across from Parking Structure III next to El Dorado Hall. To see the full policy visit csus.edu/umanual/admin/ADM-0157.htm