Students secure cars to prevent parking decals theft

Yuba College students have currently reported 39 instances of missing parking decals this semester. This number, taken one day before the semester’s one month mark, is already 39 percent of the total figure for last semester. Yuba College Chief of Police, Chris Wilkinson, said, “The number of stolen decals is in line with the number of stolen decals from previous semesters.”

However, some students disagree. Yuba College freshman, Joe Lee, feels that the theft of parking decals is a huge issue this semester. Lee first heard about the issue of stolen parking decals from a friend who had his decal stolen. It had been stolen from the bumper of his car, only a few days after ticketing began. He said, “It makes me feel unsure about the safety of my car.”

Lee feels that students are stealing parking decals because they are financially unstable after an increase in college fees. Lee said, “I think that students are stealing parking passes because the college increased the prices for tuition and parking so kids can’t afford to pay for anything else.”

Chief Wilkinson said that the most common way for parking decals to be stolen on campus is from students leaving the window left rolled down enough to allow access, and that the decals are most commonly stolen from cars parked in the west parking lot. Wilkinson advises students to, “Secure your vehicle doors and windows.”

The Yuba College Campus Police Department is currently tackling the issue of stolen parking decals by citing any vehicle displaying decal that has been reported as missing. Each parking decal has a number printed on it. The campus police department can use that number to find out if one of the decals that was reported as being missing is being used in another student’s vehicle. If a student is found using a stolen parking decal he may also be faced with being interviewed by a member of the police department.