Metal theft epidemic

[retroHelen]

Do you have this problem where you are? Cleator Moor, a town in out territory, next to us was plunged into a communication blackout when thieves stole a few hundred metres of the British Telecom Telephone cable. No one using a land-line could ring anyone even emergency services all night while engineers frantically worked in the gales to get the cables replaced.

Thankfully there are private dwellings either side of the Kingdom Hall or we would suffer like the other buildings and churches and have our lead stolen off the roof.

In the North of England it seems to be gangs of redundant engineers and miners who know about copper cable, who are stealing cable from the railway and Newcastle city underground service and stopping the transport services regularly.

In the South East the Police list it with other Theft Tourism as gangs of Eastern Europeans come over the English Channel and steal electricity and rail cable and sell it to scrap metal dealers here and take the money back home regularly. The horrible thing about these gangs is that they use young slaves bought in illegal human trafficking to test the electricity cable to see if is Live. Their burnt corpses or parts of them are found at electricity substations and identified as a different nationality to the thieves, if they are sighted on any CCTV cameras.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24023504-legal-crackdown-on-scrapyards-to-beat-pound-1bn-metal-theft-epidemic.do

Hospital cable theft stops vital operations: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-16173948

Stealing of railway cables has been described by British Transport Police (BTP)as a problem "second to terrorism" and there is mounting pressure to update legislation that is seen as outdated and ineffectual.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16165179

[Faithful Witness]

The theft of metal is a big thing in Ireland aswell, just recently in a village near me, a large bronze/copper monument erected in memory of the young people that died in the area was taken overnight. It was a sculpture of a tree trunk cut off in the middle symbolising the lives of the people in the area that vere cut off in their prime. It had the names of all the young people in the area that died during recent years carved on it. It cost 30,000 Irish pounds to erect 12 years ago. That scrap value that it will make for the thieves is nothing to the sentimental and emotional value it was worth to the people in the area.

There are loads of sculpture going missing off the sides of Motorways aswell. They are even taking the manhole covers off the streets and people are driving into the holes and getting their cars ruined. In Ireland new legislation will have to be brought out regulating the people who buy scrap metal. All you have to do is bring in a load of scrap and give any name you like and get a pile of money for it. The people in the Irish government are calling for new legislation where people disposing of scrap metal will have to produce identification so they can be traced.

[Micah]

It's a big deal around here. People steal copper from construction sites. Copper piping, copper wiring, whatever they can get. If you take it to a recycler, you can get a LOT of money for it. I know they have been stealing the new fiber optic wiring that's trying to get put in here too.

[Samberr74]

I was at a metal recycling facility today , and I could not count the amount of BRAND NEW NEVER USED automobile rims 20" + im talking thousands not hundreds.

Where are they coming from? we have no wheel manufacturing facility nearby,

metal theft is at an all time high , i had a VW bus transmission stolen out of the back of my truck last month , ( i was going to use it in my next project) here the max anyone can get out of a transmission is 30bucks , is it really worht going to jail for if caught?

[rocket]

In Oregon they passed a new law requiring recycling facilities to have paperwork with valid ID from people bringing in metal of any kind. The Meth users were steeling anything including the guard rails protecting motorist from steep slopes. They were steeling light poles and the wiring out of new construction. Some real winners wieners out there.

[LuanaGlobal]

Feb 12, 2011 my home in NC all copper piping under the house was removed in one evening. Only worth $100. Replaced with PVC Plastic pipes.

The kingdom hall In Hope Mills, NC also had 10 Air Conditioners destroyed for copper removal. The Congregations fixed that by having all the new Air conditioners encased in cages.

[onzomanie]

WHERE I LIVE ITS PHONE CABLES MADE OF COPPER THEY ARE BEING SMUGGLED TO SOUTH AFRICA.THE PHONE COMPANY HAS EVEN PUT IN PLACE A REWARD SCHEME FOR WHISTLE BLOWERS WHO HELP THE COMPANY CATCH THE THIEVES ,THEY HAVE ALSO STARTED REPLACING THE WIRE CABLES WITH FIBRE CABLES A COSTLY THING INDEED

[sianrose]

Llandough Hospital surgery suspended after cable theft

"Eight cancer operations were cancelled after copper cabling was stolen from a hospital in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Eighty one patients were affected on Wednesday by the theft from a back-up generator at Llandough hospital near Cardiff.

Hospital managers said Tuesday's theft of 100m of cabling was "dangerous and irresponsible".

A new back-up generator is being tested before routine surgery can resume.

The University Health Board chief executive Jan Williams called the theft "mindless".

She said: "NHS staff work tirelessly to care for some of the most vulnerable members of our communities and it is depressing to

note that, for these thieves, the monetary value of copper is of more consequence."

bbc.co.uk

a hospital nearby me...

[Joe Schmoe]

Here in Texas cable/pipe thieves are quite common. It is mostly for the copper. We have a lot of old power lines that still use copper too, so some of the smaller cities lose power when thieves come through.

Just another global sign of the times we live in.

[tekmantwo]

My wife works for a large power company(well, for 4 more days anyways)...it is called MidAmericanEnergy and is a 4 state giant..

She works in 'Mission Control'...one of only 12 people in the Co trained for her position...

She can tell some stories about copper theft---

Yes, it is very pervasive here and like Bro Schaffer just noted "Just another global sign of the times we live in."

[onzomanie]

FORGOT TO MENTION WATER PIPE THEFT IT IS ALSO VERY PATHETIC IT CAUSE WATER CUTS TOO OFTEN WE HAVE BECOME A NATION OF CUTS EVERYWHERE

[LeslieDean]

mWe are seeing many commericials in OKLA. re: theft of copper pipe---much like the comericials about Mothers Against Drunk Drivers---really A public Service Announcement type commercicial

[sweetwillow58]

We had a house we were renting out and after the family moved out all of a sudden all the new electrical wiring was stolen and stripped, the new furnace and metal chimney and even the metal oil tanks (we had two, one for back up) for the fuel oil was stolen! A few years later this guy is in jail for killing his wife. Real creepos out there.