Campus Safety is getting tough on scofflaws and will boot cars whose owners have failed to pay five or more parking tickets.

Raymond Knox, manager of Parking Services, said the new system is really “going to teach [those who don’t pay] a lesson.”

Most are not students though, he said. Student drivers generally register their vehicles with Parking Services. Students who receive parking fines and ignore them are subject to holds on registration and graduation, which students generally don’t want to risk, Knox said.

When a car receives a boot, the owner must go to the Campus Safety/Parking Services to get the boot removed. The cost is $50 to get the boot off.

In addition, DU is implementing a bike registration process for students with bikes on campus in an effort to help reduce theft.

Online registration will most likely begin after winter break, “but will really hit hard next spring,” Knox said.

“It’s just another way to identify the bike,” said Knox.

With a registered number, it’s easier for Campus Safety to find a bike if it’s stolen. There have been 15 bike thefts since Sept. 1.

The beginning of the year is typically the worst, Knox said. Most of the bikes taken were not secured with U-locks, a campus policy, he said.

Most locks can be disabled within a few seconds, said parking enforcement officer Joe Bogner. But with U-locks it takes 2.5-3 minutes with a bolt cutter.

Campus Safety confiscates bikes that are not properly locked or parked in a place that can be hazardous to other students, like a handicapped stop, Knox said. DU also posts warnings on the bikes – about 300 warnings this year, Bogner said.

DU has taken about 20 bikes that were not properly secured, five of which were reclaimed.

Students can reclaim their bike in the Campus Safety office if taken. Bikes that are not reclaimed are sold at an auction, generally held once a quarter.