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Chicago police have an old problem on their hands this holiday season: metal theft. A combination of rising copper and aluminum prices and the declining economy has created an increase in the theft of these metals especially. Thieves are stealing everything from sewer covers to the wiring inside gas meters and trying to cash them in at city scrap metal facilities. Many of these types of thefts cause serious safety hazards. Bonnie Johnson of People's Gas said, "The mouth (of the meter) that's going into the home is no longer controlled which could cause a gas explosion." The CPD has created a task force and a public service announcement notifying Chicagoans and asking for our help – and scrap metal recyclers have been warned not to take sewer covers and fire hydrants in exchange for cash, or they will incur a hefty fine.
"That's been the age-old problem," Deputy Chief Daniel Dugan said. "You would see scrappers taking fire hydrants. You should know this is property belonging to a municipality."Now, obviously metal theft – and theft of any kind – is wrong, but if a thief is able to separate a metal fire hydrant from its concrete base and transport its cumbersome-ness to a scrap metal recycler, doesn’t that deserve some type of credit?New fines could cost recyclers who take prohibited material $1,000 per illegal transaction and up to a year in jail. Police say the best defense may be people watching out for wire thieves in their own neighborhoods.
Post by Amy Wilschke, Image via our friends at Houstonist
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I can't even tell you how many times I've been out walking my dogs and I've seen shifty types loitering around the church late at night when nobody is around, or people who obviously don't live in the neighborhood walking through alleys with ladders.
I am not in the habit of taking my cell phone with me when I walk the dogs, but I've got to remember to start doing this so I can call cops. Several neighbors of mine have had thousands of dollars worth of copper stolen from their houses in recent years.
And to answer your question, Marcus..yes, that guy you described deserves credit, he deserves credit in prison. God how I despise people who take things that don't belong to them. I don't care what it is.
Wasn't there a plug for a movie about "scrappers" on Chicagoist back in September...
This town inches closer to becoming Detroit every day
is it strange that every crime story makes me think of a subplot from The Wire? We're a Jesse Jackson, Jr. "Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet" away from reality and art blurring...
Sorry Charlie, this story is full of bunk, as the price of most metals has plummeted with the economy. Copper trades at less than half what it was during the summer, and the rest of the recoverable metals are the same way. This is just media regurgitating a police press conference, and the police announcing the solution to a problem that no longer exists.
dwarmstr,
you should read the crime log in my village paper. copper and metal thefts are up. I also heard about lots of cars getting their alternators (I think it's alternators, or whatever it is that has some precious metal in it).
Those thefts are up where I live as well. It's not the media, it's happening.
@Marcus:
Clay Davis would make an excellent replacement for Rahm Emmanuel don't you think?
"Shhhhheeeeeeeeeeet"
Albany, I'm a Carcetti man, myself.
@Marcus
http://www.bustedtees.com/carcettiformayor
Ingrid, this was a problem when the scrap price of metal was high, as recently as this summer. It is no longer high, and therefore the incentive is long gone. Whatever anecdotes about the thefts are undoubtedly from that time, not now.
The auto part that thieves were stealing was the catalytic converter, which has a lot of platinum and palladium in it. An alternator would be a lot of work to get for the copper it has.
Yeah thieves can't steal my catalytic converter, because I cut mine off. Ha ha.
I have seen a lot of central air conditioning units stolen in Lincoln Park.