The following article was first posted on February 3rd. 2010 but a conversation with a Greensboro Police Detective reminded us that despite our best efforts, local copper theft is an epidemic.
A word to the wise: those who are watching Comex already know the price of copper is shooting towards the stars. Copper is not yet back up to the record highs of Spring 2008 but some in the industry are predicting the price will soon top the previous record prices. I don’t understand exactly why copper is rising so rapidly but I do know a new wave of copper theft and copper theft rings is beginning to build as the crooks are getting out of prison just in time to see the prices rise. So how do you protect your home or business from copper theft and what could be thousands of dollars worth of damages to your homes and businesses so the crooks can waste a few hundred dollars on illegal drugs?
For starters: nothing is the perfect solution to copper theft but thieves prefer easier targets and will often bypass the tough jobs.
Secure the foundation openings in the crawl space of your house with a good hasp and padlock. Yes, locks can be busted with a hammer but not without making a lot of noise.
Call your local fence contractor and have them build a small chain link enclosure around the outside portions of your heating and cooling system. Or, if you’re handy with simple hand tools you can buy a chain link dog enclosure and do it yourself.
Putting a big dog inside the enclosure wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
A lot of homeowners prefer to hide their HVAC units with bushes, trees and other plantings. Problem is, by hiding your HVAC equipment you are giving cover to the thieves.
You would not believe the number of business owners who store their scrap metals outside of their buildings. Maybe you haven’t room for all your scrap outside but storing scrap copper outside is insane considering the current value of copper. Would you store your Gold outside? Besides, piles of metal on the outside will inform thieves that you’re probably keeping more valuable stuff inside.
Open your eyes and take a look around. If you can see it the thieves will see it too.
For obvious reasons your local electric company or municipal board might not allow you to place a padlock on your electrical box but doing so will slow down the thieves.
Mark your stuff with an engraving tool. No, that won’t stop the thieves but it might be enough to get them convicted before they come back to rob you a second time. There are also paints that remain invisible until placed under a UV light.
It may or may not be cost effective to replace your copper plumbing with plastic but if you’re getting hit repeatedly it’s time to ruin the spoils so the thieves will go elsewhere.
If you're a business who frequently allows people from outside your business to haul away your scrap metals for the cost of the metals, take a look at who is hauling away your scrap. For some of these guys the invitation to haul scrap is an invitation to look around to see what they can steal. We know this from experience.
Electric fences can be a good deterrent but they must be marked as electric fences and can’t be placed where children might come in contact with them.
Our business has sharply reduced our metals theft since we installed our security cameras. You might want to consider the same. And the cameras help out in court as well.
Update: 3 Feb. 10, More info here.
