DPS officers remove 80 bikes from campus

The Department of Public Safety removed at least 80 bicycles from campus on Thursday at the request of USC Facilities Management in preparation for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

Signs were posted on the affected bike racks about a week ago, warning students against parking their bicycles there after noon on Thursday.

Alexina Boudreaux, a sophomore majoring in computer science, was present while DPS impounded some of the bicycles.

“Between Annenberg and GFS all the bike racks had signs on them that said bikes weren’t allowed after 12 p.m. on April 13th,” Boudreaux wrote in an email to the Daily Trojan. “I think around 1 p.m. DPS brought a big truck over and cut the locks on all the bikes on those bike racks and started putting the bikes in the back of the truck.”

According to DPS Assistant Chief David Carlisle, the bicycles will be stored at a multi-level parking structure owned by USC on the other side of Interstate 110. Students whose bikes were impounded can contact DPS to retrieve them at no cost.

Students must either have their bicycles registered or be able to identify them in order for DPS to return them. If a student’s bicycle is not registered, it must be identified by a “distinctive mark” and the make, model and color. For DPS to find a student’s bicycle that is not registered, it would be helpful for them to know the bicycle’s serial number, Carlisle said.

The bicycle racks were removed along Trousdale Parkway and Childs Way to make space for upwards of 100,000 people and 400 booths that are expected on campus for the Festival of Books.

The festival, which is the largest of its kind in the country, will be held at USC from April 22-23 this year.