Metal thieves

[Mr. Laser Beam]

We also had to put a protective cover over one of our recycling bins because people were stealing the scrap metal from our weld shop.

Out of curiosity, why do you care if they're taking it out of stuff that was going to be recycled anyway?

The recycle bin is still their property. At least I'm guessing RoJo's is. Unless it's on a public street, RoJo is entirely within his rights to keep people out of their recycle bin - EVEN IF the stuff in it is going to be recycled anyway.

When my store was being remodeled, we had dumpsters out front - and people would go in and try to nick stuff from them. We kicked them out, since even though that stuff was trash and slated to be thrown out, it was still on our property. We had the absolute right to keep thieves out of the bin. Didn't matter if the stuff was going to be thrown out. Trash that's on private property is off limits.

 

[Trekker4747]

My brother works for a cable company been plenty of times he's gotten called out to places in the middle of the night to replace wiring/cabling that's been tampered with due to copper thieves.

 

[Canadave]

We also had to put a protective cover over one of our recycling bins because people were stealing the scrap metal from our weld shop.

Out of curiosity, why do you care if they're taking it out of stuff that was going to be recycled anyway?

The recycle bin is still their property. At least I'm guessing RoJo's is. Unless it's on a public street, RoJo is entirely within his rights to keep people out of their recycle bin - EVEN IF the stuff in it is going to be recycled anyway.

When my store was being remodeled, we had dumpsters out front - and people would go in and try to nick stuff from them. We kicked them out, since even though that stuff was trash and slated to be thrown out, it was still on our property. We had the absolute right to keep thieves out of the bin. Didn't matter if the stuff was going to be thrown out. Trash that's on private property is off limits.

That sort of thing has always struck me as being a bit silly. If it's trash, it's trash. I personally don't give a damn if someone wants to go through my recycling for metal or bottles or what have you.

But if Deranged Nasat is right and it's being recycled at the shop, it makes sense to lock it up, of course.

 

[DBR]

Riddle me this: why the fuck was it so difficult to find someone to pick up my old water heater if it's worth something?

 

[Amaris]

Riddle me this: why the fuck was it so difficult to find someone to pick up my old water heater if it's worth something?

You should have slapped a "For Sale: $10" sign on it, and stuck it out in the front yard. By morning it would have been gone.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Out of curiosity, why do you care if they're taking it out of stuff that was going to be recycled anyway?

The recycle bin is still their property. At least I'm guessing RoJo's is. Unless it's on a public street, RoJo is entirely within his rights to keep people out of their recycle bin - EVEN IF the stuff in it is going to be recycled anyway.

When my store was being remodeled, we had dumpsters out front - and people would go in and try to nick stuff from them. We kicked them out, since even though that stuff was trash and slated to be thrown out, it was still on our property. We had the absolute right to keep thieves out of the bin. Didn't matter if the stuff was going to be thrown out. Trash that's on private property is off limits.

That sort of thing has always struck me as being a bit silly. If it's trash, it's trash. I personally don't give a damn if someone wants to go through my recycling for metal or bottles or what have you.

But if Deranged Nasat is right and it's being recycled at the shop, it makes sense to lock it up, of course.

The weld shop may be gettin the money for recycling the material, even if they couldn't use it themselves.

 

[Bisz]

We also had to put a protective cover over one of our recycling bins because people were stealing the scrap metal from our weld shop.

Out of curiosity, why do you care if they're taking it out of stuff that was going to be recycled anyway?

If someone steals it and turns in in for scrap they are getting money that otherwise the company would have gotten.

Heck, we even recycle weld slag. Yup, the crusty crap that builds up over time.

 

[Bisz]

I'm quite aware that metal prices have been going up for some time, indicating some sort of scarcity. Why would that be the case? Is the world running out of metal, or it it just not being mined for some reason? If this is the start of a long-term trend, what does that indicate for the future?

Four words: China, People's Repiublic Of.

They are gobbling up an enormous amount of resources to sustain their meteoric growth. The new plant that Toyota built in Mississippi has concrete building columns instead of the normal steel ones because there just wasn't any steel available at reasonable prices.

 

[DimesDan]

Half of my workplace is currently under construction, and a couple months ago a bunch of people broke in over the weekend and stole a ton of copper wire.

We also had to put a protective cover over one of our recycling bins because people were stealing the scrap metal from our weld shop.

The whole thing is weird.

How exactly is it weird?

It's pretty simple actually. Some people want to make a quick buck, they know that scrap metal is worth something, so they get hold of it which ever way they can and sell it.

It's really rather logical and not weird is any shape or form.

 

[Robert D. Robot]

I had to laugh to myself when a plumber was fixing our hot water heater and he told us (after I mentioned that I was going to rip out the fixtures in a downstairs bathroom before we renovated) to be sure that we put aside the brass and copper pipe for him and he would come and take it away for us.... for free!

I guess a lot of people do not know how much copper and brass is worth and how easy it is to take it to a local metal recycling business/scrap yard for cash! We did not fall for it!

Also, I think when people in this thread are talking about theft from recycling bins, they are referring to materials that are being set aside to be turned in/recycled for cash, not the stuff that people put in a plastic bin for routine curbside pickup.

 

[auntiehill]

We've had a couple of power cuts locally due to people thieving live copper cable. I don't know if any of the buggers got fried but it has been known to happen.

That happened in my county last year. Some nitwit and his pal tried to strip the live wires right off the poles along the highway. The one who stayed on the ground survived. The one who climbed up on the pole was taken away in a body bag.

They had been told the copper wire was worth money, so they thought they could just rip it right out of the city wires in broad daylight and walk away.

Not exactly criminal masterminds, that pair.

 

[Holdfast]

We've had a couple of power cuts locally due to people thieving live copper cable. I don't know if any of the buggers got fried but it has been known to happen.

That happened in my county last year. Some nitwit and his pal tried to strip the live wires right off the poles along the highway. The one who stayed on the ground survived. The one who climbed up on the pole was taken away in a body bag.

They had been told the copper wire was worth money, so they thought they could just rip it right out of the city wires in broad daylight and walk away.

Not exactly criminal masterminds, that pair.

Well, one of them was quite the bright spark...

 

[Stoek]

I have a crazy thought. If the amount of theft of various metals has risen so greatly then perhaps it is because of the gross imbalance in our so called "civilized" societies.

So how about we push our elected officials to enact policies and laws that benefit people instead of corporations and the super rich, and then in maybe a decade or so once we have people back to work and restored the social safety net so that people don't have to resort to stealing to make money, we can follow up with drastic laws that can be used to deter the ones who are just stupid, lazy or avaricious to keep their hands off of that which does not belong to them.

 

[Amaris]

I have a crazy thought. If the amount of theft of various metals has risen so greatly then perhaps it is because of the gross imbalance in our so called "civilized" societies.

So how about we push our elected officials to enact policies and laws that benefit people instead of corporations and the super rich, and then in maybe a decade or so once we have people back to work and restored the social safety net so that people don't have to resort to stealing to make money, we can follow up with drastic laws that can be used to deter the ones who are just stupid, lazy or avaricious to keep their hands off of that which does not belong to them.

While it is important that we make our representatives pay attention to the poor and needy, if this were a boom economy, copper thefts would still take place. It's a highly useful and invaluable material that is instant profit with no overhead and can be found anywhere. Poor families who have little to nothing don't go stripping copper from utility lines. Those are people who have no intention of behaving in a civilized society, rich or poor.

So the issue of a social safety net and even stricter laws against stealing is still separate from the acts of these thieves, in that they will occur regardless, as long as copper and other highly useful metals are within their ability to take.

 

[Stoek]

While it is important that we make our representatives pay attention to the poor and needy, if this were a boom economy, copper thefts would still take place. It's a highly useful and invaluable material that is instant profit with no overhead and can be found anywhere. Poor families who have little to nothing don't go stripping copper from utility lines. Those are people who have no intention of behaving in a civilized society, rich or poor.

So the issue of a social safety net and even stricter laws against stealing is still separate from the acts of these thieves, in that they will occur regardless, as long as copper and other highly useful metals are within their ability to take.

Respectfully I think you are missing my point. My post already anticipated yours. But I am saying that not every thief falls into the category of would steal anyway. So first reduce the attraction of thievery for those who are driven to it by need. Then as a follow up create laws to deter those who are rational enough to fear punishment or to punish those who as you say simply have not intention of behaving in a civilized fashion.

 

[Amaris]

Respectfully I think you are missing my point. My post already anticipated yours. But I am saying that not every thief falls into the category of would steal anyway. So first reduce the attraction of thievery for those who are driven to it by need. Then as a follow up create laws to deter those who are rational enough to fear punishment or to punish those who as you say simply have not intention of behaving in a civilized fashion.

Well then... carry on.

Seriously, though, I do get what you're saying, and I agree that social safety nets are crucial for a functioning society, I'm just saying that the people stripping and stealing copper wire aren't usually the family without food type, and are usually more the raging asshole opportunist type. I know many of them. You'll find them in the PC service industry.

I do agree that tougher laws need to be enacted. I think we're in agreement, it's just that for some reason one of us is very tired and can't seem to focus very well. I'm going to say me, but the results are inconclusive.

 

[M'Sharak]

We've had a couple of power cuts locally due to people thieving live copper cable. I don't know if any of the buggers got fried but it has been known to happen.

That happened in my county last year. Some nitwit and his pal tried to strip the live wires right off the poles along the highway. The one who stayed on the ground survived. The one who climbed up on the pole was taken away in a body bag.

They had been told the copper wire was worth money, so they thought they could just rip it right out of the city wires in broad daylight and walk away.

Not exactly criminal masterminds, that pair.

Well, one of them was quite the bright spark...

But only for a moment or two.

 

[Holdfast]

That happened in my county last year. Some nitwit and his pal tried to strip the live wires right off the poles along the highway. The one who stayed on the ground survived. The one who climbed up on the pole was taken away in a body bag.

They had been told the copper wire was worth money, so they thought they could just rip it right out of the city wires in broad daylight and walk away.

Not exactly criminal masterminds, that pair.

Well, one of them was quite the bright spark...

But only for a moment or two.

The candle that burns twice as bright...

 

[scotpens]

Thought I’d give this thread a bump when I noticed this item.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going with that bridge?”

“WHAT bridge?”

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

All the clever thieves go and work for banks.