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Stopping metal thieves!

Rubycon

Rubycon

Madame President
I don't get this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuLPMCBdjVc&

Why don't the scrap yards make it mandatory for those "cashing in" to produce positive identification, take a thumb print, etc.?

Granted there's probably more ways for folks to get around that even but the most die hard ones are usually high and stupid and thus going to get stopped, no?

Stealing grave markers definitely is bad! D:
 
Because it would be expensive for them to do it and would harm the legit ones business and the others would profit.

Do businesses make sure the money people are using is not money that was stolen from a bank?

Of course not and it's impossible for scrap yards to do the same as often it simply pays for the weight total and they don't look at every piece.

Don't hate the game, hate the players.
 
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Rubycon said:
Why don't the scrap yards make it mandatory for those "cashing in" to produce positive identification, take a thumb print, etc.?
Click to expand...

I agree with you, but the financial incentive is for scrapyards is to look the other way.
 
Newbian said:
Because it would be expensive for them to do it and would harm the legit ones business and the others would profit.

Do businesses make sure the money people are using is not money that was stolen from a bank?

Of course not and it's impossible for scrap yards to do the same as often it simply pays for the weight total and they don't look at every piece.

Don't hate the game, hate the players.
Click to expand...

This. Around here pawn shops are required to keep tight records of every person bringing stuff in, and that works because every piece is checked and can be traced back to someone. Scrap metal is not like that. If you find a bunch of jewish gold teeth in the scrap pile, there's no way to tell which person brought that in.
 
Stealing regular steel though? Isn't that stuff incredibly cheap?




...looking around, it might be $0.10 - $0.30/lb. Seems like it's not really worth much effort unless you can easily scamper away with several hundred pounds of it in tow.

But I guess it would take some pretty advanced math skills and planning to figure out if it's worth the time and legal risk for a few dollars. 😀
 
I was visiting WV last weekend and heard about a recent incident where half the mountain (neighborhood) burned, including some buildings. A heroin addict stole copper wire from an outside building and started a fire to burn off the jacket from the wire. Even after the fire was out of control, he brought water and doused only the wire to cool it down so he could take it down the road to sell. The fire could be seen from the entrance to the place where he sold the metal.
 
Reputable scrap dealers will ask for ID and keep records of who brought in what.

It's actually the law in many states.
 
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New Mexico just passed a law regarding this. Scrap yards now have to keep records.

I support the idea overall. I don't think they should scrutinize where the merchandise came from, but by knowing WHO it came from, there's at least a little bit of a trail.

And yeah, you've gotta be pretty desperate to steal steel.
 
If you bring in a bag of aluminum cans to recycle they will tell you to get lost because it cost more to process the payment and the records than your bag of cans is worth.

Mississippi Law Details:
Scrap recyclers must maintain records of transactions for two years.Metal recyclers must pay for purchases by electronic transfer or by check.If paying by check,it must be made payable to the name and address recorded for the seller and may not be mailed out sooner than three days after the transaction.Recyclers also must capture the IDs of all people with the seller at the time of the sale.There is a three-day-tag-and-hold policy.
 
NY requires ID at scrapyards - real ID (i.e. state driver's license.) Funny... I rarely hear about people stealing scrap metal around here. It happens occasionally, but not like it does in the other states.
 
WTF people are steeling iron now?

edit: According to the report, thieves are now steeling scrap metal AND iron! 😵
 
I went to sell some alum coke cans a few weeks ago and everybody would need a ID to sell any kinds of scraps.

BTW, soda cans price was only $0.50 per pound, I got $2 from 4 lbs that I collected. Hard to make a living by collecting cans.
 
Rubycon said:
I don't get this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuLPMCBdjVc&

Why don't the scrap yards make it mandatory for those "cashing in" to produce positive identification, take a thumb print, etc.?

Granted there's probably more ways for folks to get around that even but the most die hard ones are usually high and stupid and thus going to get stopped, no?

Stealing grave markers definitely is bad! D:
Click to expand...

Nobody cares. The scrap yards have it melted down within days so unless a sting is underway (there isn't) there is about zero chance of them getting busted. You may recognize this scrap yard from The Wire:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=balti...d=nEoSIGdP9FoZSRGghjQqPA&cbp=12,40.72,,0,9.94

This is where Bubbles took the fruits of his labors. In years (decades) past I brought probably several tons of scrap metal both legit and stolen there and it's in the front door and out the back no questions asked. I imagine it's like that everywhere.

Btw we always had to give ID, but nobody ever cataloged what we brought. I was tossed in the appropriate bins along with the hundreds of lbs of other metals and forklifts took it away when the bin was full.
 
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I inspect a lot of foreclosed property's for insurance companies in Memphis. The scrappers/crackheads do $10,000 worth of damage to a bathroom to get $10 worth of copper pipe. Copper wiring, sinks, cast iron tubs, water heaters, steel security doors, and HVAC units are also popular items.
 
NL5 said:
I agree with you, but the financial incentive is for scrapyards is to look the other way.
Click to expand...

Actually a scrap yard that is open to the public has to keep full records and has a local police officer assigned to them that regularely checks up on them and looks for stolen goods.

If a scrap yard is caught with stolen goods it is confiscated at a 100% loss to the company.

Whether they check certain ID's or take thumb prints, etc is up to the local government. So talk to your community leaders if you want something changed.
 
Rubycon said:
Why don't the scrap yards make it mandatory for those "cashing in" to produce positive identification, take a thumb print, etc.?
Click to expand...

I don't know where you take your scrap metal but I have had to produce identification and a thumb print at scrap metal yards here in Houston. Maybe not all of them but the good ones.

You have to fill out log sheets with exactly what and how much you are selling. They will not take large trailers full of aic conditioning coils and such except from the supply houses that have contracts with them or people that have an AC license.
 
Places that have a foundry or a large exporter will probably have stricter laws than something out in the middle of nowhere. Houston has a huge scrap metal business and clearly will have the laws on the books.

Homeless people were murdering each other over copper wire here a couple years ago. Some jackass stole the iron siderails on the freeway. People will do anything for money.
 
Mike Gayner said:
WTF people are steeling iron now?

edit: According to the report, thieves are now steeling scrap metal AND iron! 😵
Click to expand...

Seems like all metals have gone sky high, our local junkyards will pay you $500 for any car you can get to the yard, used to be like $100 tops..
 
You have to bring ID to our local scrap yard and come in a car so they can get your number plate on camera. I think there's a been a big clampdown since someone stole a bronze plaque from a war memorial and had it cut up to try and sell for scrap.
 
Newbian said:
Because it would be expensive for them to do it and would harm the legit ones business and the others would profit.

Do businesses make sure the money people are using is not money that was stolen from a bank?

Of course not and it's impossible for scrap yards to do the same as often it simply pays for the weight total and they don't look at every piece.

Don't hate the game, hate the players.
Click to expand...

Right, because the alcohol, tobacco and firearms industry are all but failing under the weight of checking ID's and keeping records.....
 
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