![]() Instead, most involve small amounts taken in each incident, often with repeat victims. 11ĭespite these dramatic headlines, a small percentage of scrap metal theft cases involve large amounts of metal. The company also employed 51 Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officers. The Associated Press reported multiple police raids on six scrap yards owned by OmniSource, the largest scrap dealer in Indianapolis, after a year-long investigation.The article pointed out these offenses may fall under federal terrorism legislation. Consumers Energy reported their Michigan utility outlets had suffered a 104 percent increase in copper theft during the first half of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007, creating serious infrastructure problems.The Boston Globe reported that fire departments across the country were reporting brass nuts' missing from fire hydrants, raising concerns that hydrants wouldn't work when needed.In addition, the article reported that thieves have stolen a half million dollars' worth of brass ornaments from Chicago cemeteries. The Associated Press reported that thieves were stealing vases bolted to West Virginia cemetery headstones and bronze markers on veterans' graves.The Dallas Morning News reported a 227 percent increase in scrap metal theft from 2005 to 2007.The employee ripped the bridge down with his work truck, chopped up the metal, and sold it to a scrap yard. Reuters reports Russian police detained a 45-year-old city employee for stealing a bridge east of Moscow.The Associated Press reported the beer keg industry is losing $50 million a year as customers are forfeiting their cash deposits and taking their empty kegs to scrap dealers instead, or thieves are stealing unsecured empty kegs around taverns and restaurants.Two months prior, the Guardian reported numerous Japanese playground slides' being stolen. The U.K.'s Guardian reported a fivefold rise in metal track theft, causing numerous delays and rising costs throughout the British railway network.The Tucson Weekly (November 2006) reported a one-year 150 percent increase in scrap metal theft.2 The following news accounts exemplify the growth of the scrap metal theft problem: While we cannot be sure about the exact amount of metal stolen in the United States, an examination of media reports in recent years showed increased scrap metal theft throughout the country, with some areas showing double and triple the amount of reported theft. 1 However, reports of dramatic increases in scrap metal theft are occurring throughout the world. Collaborative efforts to combat metal theft have occurred for several decades. Throughout the industrialized world, stealing valuable metal has become a serious concern for the police, businesses, public utilities, railroad companies, and the community at large. For the most up-to-date listing of current and future guides, see General Description of the Problem Some of these related problems are covered in other guides in this series, all of which are listed at the end of this guide. Related problems not directly addressed in this guide, each of which requires separate analysis, include: This guide is limited to addressing the particular harms scrap metal theft causes. Scrap metal theft is but one of the larger set of theft and sale of stolen property problems. By contrast, gold and silver commonly have intrinsic value, either to the thief or to someone else who values the metal in its original shape. ![]() These metals have value only when sold to a scrap metal dealer who arranges for the metal to be melted and reshaped for other uses. While stolen precious metals include gold and silver-commonly targeted in residential burglaries-for the purposes of this guide, scrap metal theft includes mainly stolen copper, aluminum, brass, zinc, nickel, platinum, and bronze. Finally, it reviews responses to the problem, and what is known about these responses from evaluative research and police practice. It then identifies a series of questions to help you analyze your local scrap-metal theft problem. This guide begins by describing the problem of scrap metal theft and reviewing factors that increase its risk. ![]() Link to PDF version The Problem of Scrap Metal Theft What This Guide Does and Does Not Cover Translation(s): O Furto de Metal para a Sucata (Portuguese)
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