I don't understand why they couldn't dust for fingerprints? What are they being paid to do there?

Some of that was happening here, too. I think if the people BUYING the copper would quit, it wouldn't happen. So sorry. I'll send good wishes your way...

It's not a new problem--when I was teaching in the city 40 years ago, people were ripping the copper pipes out of their own houses to sell them for scrap. Now? People in my area are having problems with their outside air conditioning units being stolen. Contruction sites are always 'losing' supplies because of the scrap metal value.

I do wonder--how are thieves getting INTO your homes to access the pipes? Seems it would be imperative for those in your neighborhood to look to securing their homes better so no one can come in like that. Hope those who have lost plumbing replace it with plastic--probably less enticing to theives.

I wonder the same thing, Rosemary, how are the thieves gaining entrance? And surely it is taking a length of time to remove the pipes? Are these homes that are empty for the winter or new construction?

We have had it happening here for the past couple of years, but more than anything it is electrical wiring that is targeted. Thieves even stole a huge piece of equipment from a seasonal work area! They had to use a tandem truck to get it out.

I can't blame those doing the buying, that is their business, their livelihood. They have to support their families and are doing so legally. Scrap metal is big business.

Hi Azzalea,

The thieves bust out basement windows. Even if you put in unbreakable glass, they'll bust out the whole frame. They're pretty bold.

The police like to "blame the victim." In this same neighborhood, I had a 15-year-old $20 cassette-playing walkman stolen out of a hidey-hole in my trunk - in my locked car. They unlocked the car and went digging through the trunk. The cop refused to dust for fingerprints and then chastised me for leaving "valuables in sight."

I explained that it was a crummy old walkman and that the pawnshop owner probably laughed out loud when the miscreant tried to turn it in - AND - that it was hidden in the trunk.

But back to the houses, these thieves aren't deterred by much. The house that was just broken into was locked up tight but they forced open a basement window. I've seen homeowners yank out those old soft basement window frames and put in glass block with cement mortar but that's so depressing.

Rose

Copper theft has been on the rise here for a couple of years now. It's been stolen for a/c systems on TOP of businesses,homes,Churches.The largest "haul" around here was less than a year ago when someone stole a trailer load (18 wheeler) from the property of Goodyear Tire. At least they didn't have to load it..they took the TRAILER too! According to the paper, this was HUGE pieces of copper! As far as I know there's been no arrest for any of the copper thieves!

It happens a lot around here, too. And watch out for theft of the catalitic converters in your car's exhaust system! They have platinum in them, and depending on the car, worth a fortune. We've had a lot of this here, private owners and car lots. Well lit car lots.

As for the police refusing to dust for prints, ect., it sounds to me like the police cheif and the city council needs to be contatcted. For that matter, try county and state. Do they want to do anything about something not in their jurisdiction? No. And they won't do anything about dusting for prints. That isn't what you go to them about. Talk to them about the poor job you think your city police are doing. Something to bring attention to the poor job you think the police are doing in that area, but done in a proper way. How did they find prints all over the window, but not dust for prints? Were the prints dirty and show up?

Tami

We own commercial and single family residential properties. We have lost 3 h/air systems in the last 2 months due to copper theft. No one has basements here the systems are on the back of the buildings. All thefts occurred when the buildings were empty. The police tell us the same thing it is impossible to catch them after the fact. It cost us between $2,000 to $3,000 to replace each one. It will continue until there is no market for stolen copper.

It was a problem here a while back until the police cracked down on the scrap BUYERS for accepting stolen goods. They started requiring ID to sell over a certain amount and the risk outweighed the reward.

The price of copper has even gone down. It was quite a bit higher recently.

My son has been pulling the windings out of old electric motors. DH brings them home when one burns out.

Back in the day, you would get a motor rewound (and we do once in a while) but for the most part, once they are burnt out, they are junk.

DS takes them apart and pulls out the copper. He has a bucket that he puts it in. Once it gets full (he compresses it) - He will take it to the scrap yard and sell it. Hopefully for him - the price will be up again then..

I know the copper theft has been an ongoing problem.

I don't know if moving to the country will solve your woes, Rosemary. Lots of theft and other unpleasantness here too.

It's been going on here for years. Can't tell you how many times a story on the morning news was of these IDIOTS actually stripping the copper out of WORKING STREET LIGHTS.. and I'm just waiting for someone to get hurt or die and then they or their family SUE the gov't.

one man here is solved some of the housing theft here. by hiring "registered" homeless persons to temp live in his projects...they get a stipend, a warm place to sleep, food and chance to get back on their feet...

this problem has been on-going for several years here...(se mi)

With battery operated reciprocating saws it's quick to make the cuts and pull the pipes. However the new tweak is the ones are stealing the gas pipe to sell for scrap and they start cutting it out from gas lines when the gas is on. Several have been killed from home explosions.

Fingerprints don't tell who the person is. It's only evidence if they have the prints on file for another crime. And it also doesn't say when the person was there, nor does it say what the person was doing there. It would be one more thing in the "toolbox" with which to prosecute though.

Around here they started requiring the scrap buyers to log buyers and it's starting to help.

And there was a death or two recorded when people tried stealing the copper from the (live) power lines. One died, one knocked on their backside. Haven't heard of a followup lawsuit as yet.

Copper downspout theft was pretty rampant around here last year, and it slacked off when winter came. Churches and homes were losing downspouts over and over. Now that spring is about here, we're having our first instances of people stealing outdoor air conditioning condensers.

Our police force is always very visible, but since these thefts have been going on, they are even more responsive. They have caught pickup trucks with downspouts hanging off the back. They've also caught some of the downspout thefts as they were in progress. It takes a combined effort of police and community to try and slow this down.

We do have car thefts, but our community has an ordinance prohibiting on street, overnight parking. That helps alot. Each homeowner gets a certain number of passes per year for guests to park on the street overnight.

My husband and I watched two men steal the copper gutters off the home across the street from us a couple years ago. Watched them for 10 or 15 minutes or so. It never dawned on us that they were thieves. I didn't even think about it...just figured the neighbors were having work done. The "workers" truck was parked in the driveway. And hub always jokes about being a "trained observer" because he's a newspaper reporter.

That night we wondered why the police were across the street. Didn't look like an emergency, though. Next day, the neighbor told me what happened. I felt like an idiot, told her what we saw and called the police to make a report. They took our information.

It's been happening for a long time, probably always will. We still laugh about watching the crime in action. And our neighbors do, too.