What am I missing with all these copper thefts?

[proud2BlibKansan]

It sure seems to be a significant problem. Why have our state legislatures not clamped down on this? It's not like they're too busy regulating abortion, taking voters' rights away, privatizing education and condemning Sharia law.

Copper thieves target air conditioners in Overland Park

Thieves looking for copper are zeroing in on air-conditioning units outside vacant houses that are listed for sale in Overland Park.

Police Chief John Douglass said on his blog Thursday that his department has taken eight such reports in just the last three weeks. Each incident occurred during the night. In one case, a neighbor saw a U-Haul truck backed into the driveway of the vacant house.

Douglass asked the public to watch for thieves at vacant houses in their neighborhoods and call the police if they see suspicious behavior.

| Matt Campbell, [e-mail]


Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/06/07/3647675/copper-thieves-target-air-conditioners.html#storylink=cpy

[Solly Mack]

1. $$$$BIG$$$$ Stolen copper can be resold. (Copper coils in AC units)

Vacant houses can yield a big profit by stripping it down. Pipes are the biggie but those are scarce.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. I get that

What I don't get is why the thefts are not being dealt with at the legislative level.

[Solly Mack]

15. Don't give them any ideas. They'll ban AC for those making less than 250,000 a year.

[TheWraith]

23. What would you have them do?

Theft is already illegal. Is making it double-extra illegal going to result in thieves who think they won't be caught saying "Gee, I really shouldn't."?

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. Require registration for copper sellers

And yes, increase the penalty.

[SalviaBlue]

37. I know someone who sold copper just yesterday.

The rules for selling copper here are that you have provide ID, the address from which the copper came, and you have to wait three days to receive payment.

[proud2BlibKansan]

38. We don't do any of that here.

The law makers are too busy restricting abortion and banning Sharia law.

[snappyturtle]

2. You're over looking the price of copper. Not cheap anymore. nt

[dballance]

3. They sell the copper as scrap for drug money

I used to work at an electric utility. Theft of copper grounding wire was rampant. We were shocked no had fried themselves yet.

[1StrongBlackMan]

8. Or ...

They sell it for food money, or rent money, or busfare to their minimum wage job.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

16. This is definitely a job for a lot of people.

It's really competitive. Someone who hustles can make an OK living at it.

When we had our building water heater replaced they were circling like sharks. One guy even asked if he could haul away our still in the wrapper and on the skid $4000 dollar water heater . LOL

The crew that did our install had "a guy" that hangs around and works for what he can get for the old unit. He hauls for free and scraps the old w/h. The scrap guy told me, at the time in 2009ish??, a pick up truck load would bring $300 bucks. He said one could do about a load a day. Scrap has gone up but so has competition. I see newer trucks these days.

[dballance]

33. Yes, there are some honest scrappers

But, the people we dealt with pulling ground wire off the fences and equipment in the middle of the night at our substations at the utility were the druggies so that's the first thing that comes to mind for me.

[XemaSab]

10. One of my friends use to run with a pack of tweekers

and they used to go around and get like $500 a night.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

18. Tweekers can be an industrious bunch, eh?

A heroin addict might get a hub-cap and a purse.

[FrodosPet]

27. Some of the dangers of scrapping

[Swamp Lover]

4. What are you missing?

An opportunity.......

[Swamp Lover]

5. I heard a story on NPR last year that claimed that

half of all of the copper on earth has been mined and used.

Don't know about the accuracy of this statement, but I know copper is sky high now.

[-..__...]

14. Cost of ammunition and/or bullets for reloading...

has almost tripled in the last 8-10 years.

A chunk of that can be attributed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Homeland Security bullshit, but when it really comes down to it, the rise in price for any copper materials/resources, is because of the demand from developing countries like China and India.

[Art_from_Ark]

19. Well, the market price of copper is around $4/pound for ingots

Average price offered by dealers for scrap is probably half of that.

[onehandle]

6. Somebody stole the copper tubes that supported our solar lights in our yard.

Jokes on them. They only looked copper.

[MrSlayer]

7. As an electrician, I scrap a lot of copper.

There's really good money in it, it's a cash business and nobody asks questions. Perfect for a guy looking for a few bucks with no other means of employment or an apprentice looking to supplement his income.

[1StrongBlackMan]

12. Funny ...

or an apprentice looking to supplement his income.

I was telling someone something like that just the other day ... "If you (as the employer) don't provide your workers with pay raises, they will find a way to give themselves a pay raise."

[MrSlayer]

26. Well, we're union so they do get treated well.

The extra feeder cable is a bonus for them. For all of us if there is an excessive amount.

[CreekDog]

13. they should require it to be paid by check

[Hassin Bin Sober]

17. I think a lot of places are requiring just that. But here are always the crooks on BOTH sides...

... of the transaction.

[bhikkhu]

21. In our area it takes a photo ID, and they take a picture of you

- with the stuff that you're bringing in to scrap. There's still plenty of problems, as crews run stuff over to the next county where its more lax, and there's enough in it for the scrapyards here to bend the rules anyway.

I had a big iron security gate that barred the alley between two buildings; one night someone busted it out of its brick mounts and broke in through the windows in the alley, stealing miscellaneous stuff. The 200lb gate was propped up there for a few days while I planned to get it put back in place, but then it disappeared too. Now the alley is blocked by a cheap-ass plywood board, which no one would bother to steal.

[onethatcares]

39. or maybe BOA cash cards with a fee

just sayin.

[HiPointDem]

28. here you have to show id to dealers. you'd have to sell for less if you wanted to do it without id.

[RebelOne]

36. Same here in North Georgia.

We have had a rash of copper thefts lately, some which knocked out phone lines.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. Someone stole our brass kick-plate off our condo building's door.

I mentioned to my neighbors with A/C units on the ground they might think of a cage for their brand new a/c compressors.

I'm glad my unit is on the roof. Things are getting bad here.

The scrappers here (in Chicago) are brutal. They'll take the metal off anything put out in the alley. They'll smash a TV to get whatever is inside. No more placing something out for re-use. Every thing get cannibalized and the trash/glass gets left behind.

We put out some perfectly good wardrobe cabinets and the hardware/hinges got pulled off and the cabinets were left for junk.

[Angleae]

20. What do you expect the legislature to do? It's already illegal.

Do you expect them to make it double illegal or something?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

22. Maybe require scrap buyers to keep records and IDs on file?

If that hasn't been done yet?

[Major Nikon]

34. Good idea

http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/energyhome/copper-theft-statutes-december-2008.aspx

[Warpy]

25. They're also breaking into houses, hacking into the sheetrock

and stripping it right out of the walls, along with the copper plumbing. Here they stripped the wiring off a railroad crossing gate! I'm delighted to say they caught those little bastards.

I hate it when commodities prices are goosed by hedge funds. This is the result: trashed housing and less safe roads.

[HiPointDem]

29. you're missing the financial speculation in metals. i thought that particular bubble had burst,

but i guess it's back.

[ejpoeta]

32. i know car bodies are worth a lot these days. my husband has taken a few

vehicles in over the years and took one recently. He could get more junking it than he could selling it which is sad. the price has been going up. When china was getting ready for the olympics it shot up and I thought it would go down after that but it didn't.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

30. Because parasite industries tend to be untouchable.

Consider if you will how the towing scam industry seems to evade any meaningful regulation.

[ejpoeta]

31. catalytic converters have been stolen off cars up in buffalo too.

desperate people do desperate things. Copper = money. so does catalytic converters.

[Egalitarian Thug]

35. That fact that tens of millions of people have been relegated to poverty

and, though it's trending down, copper is still over $3 a pound.

[hunter]

41. Yep. People with good jobs don't go out at night to steal metal.

[hobbit709]

40. Friend of mine that does appliance repair sold two scrap units for $350 in metal.