Nail that siding tight! Metal thieves grow brash
Soaring metal prices and high demand create a market for pilfered scrap metal in the US.
from the April 24, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
The spike in thefts has become so widespread that more than 30 state legislatures are considering legislation to tackle the problem, according to Steve Hirsch, legislative director for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) based in Washington.
National statistics are not kept, and local police often don't track metal heists separately from general theft. However, major industries have some numbers:
• Farmers in California's Central Valley reported metal thefts last year totaling more than $6 million, according to the ACTION Project in Visalia, Calif. The number of reported incidents skyrocketed by 400 percent over the previous year. Thieves typically make off with irrigation pipe and the copper wiring in irrigation pumps, endangering crops.
• Metal thefts against the electric industry rose 300 percent over the past two years, says Mr. Sypult. People are taking whatever wires they can get to resell the copper, sometimes breaking into substations at considerable risk to themselves, repairmen, and others nearby. Successful thieves can make off with $400 to $500 worth of copper, but half a dozen die each year trying.
Those tracking the problem say the crime is often tied to drugs. "The general profile of a lot of these guys that we caught tends to be someone in their thirties; they tend to be white and methamphetamine addicts," says ACTION's director, Bill Yoshimoto, who also works for the district attorney in Tulare County, Calif.
Nabbing the thieves often involves the cooperation of scrap metal recyclers.
"The real key to working the issue: You can have all the metal in the world, but if you don't have an outlet to sell it, it's kind of pointless," says Sypult. "So we work very closely with the scrap dealer industry and law enforcement to ensure the process is as well-policed and managed as possible."
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