Copper. Aluminum. Brass. Bronze. Compared to other precious metals, the four don’t garner much attention. But to a certain criminal element, theft of these metals is akin to striking gold.
In the past five years, metals thefts have risen dramatically in North Carolina and across the nation due to a spike in prices fetched for the materials — a spike thought to be tied to demand from rapidly industrializing nations like India and China.
“We’ve seen in excess of a hundred cases the last three years,” said Major Kenneth Watson of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office. “I’d call it an epidemic. You don’t hear that associated with property crime very often, but it is rampant.”
In 2002, the price of copper per pound was 60 cents while today’s price hovers around $3.80 per pound. The combination of a downturn in the economy and the increased value of the metals has led to an increase in the crime.
The problem has become so prevalent that in 2009, 25 states introduced legislation giving law enforcement agencies greater oversight of the scrap metal industry. In North Carolina, Session Law 2009-200 of House Bill 323, described as “An act to strengthen the requirements regarding secondary metals recycling of regulated metals property in order to prevent the theft of this property,” was passed by the General Assembly that year. The law specifies a required increase of record keeping by secondary metals recyclers — detailed receipts, signatures, photocopies of the seller’s driver’s license and, in the case of items containing copper, like catalytic converters and central air conditioner evaporator coils and condensers, fingerprints.
Along with more stringent record keeping, North Carolina lawmakers enacted legislation making the theft of any regulated metals property affixed to or part of any real property a felony offense, without regard to the value of the property in question.
On the surface, a felony offense for any theft of regulated metals, no matter how small, seems a bit severe. But look deeper and cautionary tales begin to emerge.
According to the FBI website, in April of 2008, residents of Jackson, Miss., were not warned of an approaching tornado because thieves had stripped five tornado sirens of their copper wiring; in March of that same year, thousands of people in Florida were left without power when copper thieves stole wiring from an active transformer at a power facility in Tampa. The threat to critical public infrastructure by metals theft — potential disruptions of electricity, phone and cellphone service, transportation, water supply, heating and security and emergency services — has determined the increased penalty for the crime.
The targets are many. In recent years, large industrial facilities in the area, like PotashCorp-Aurora, have been hit by metals thieves, leading the company to work with law enforcement on prevention of future crimes, according to the sheriff’s office. Last week, two people were arrested for the April 2011 thefts of copper wiring from Voice of America towers at two sites in Beaufort and Pitt counties. Two other suspects in the crime are still at large.
While the larger facilities may have greater stores of property vulnerable to thieves, many times metals thefts go unnoticed. Old appliances, rusted-out cars, items most would consider junk and ignored by property owners, become targets for theft. These thefts are often difficult to trace because of the time interval in which the crime takes place and when it is reported.
Prevention is the key, according to the sheriff’s office: “Stay vigilant. Call law enforcement immediately if you see something suspicious in your neighborhood. And store metal/valuable items in a locked area or at least out of sight.”