Come on, HG, you've been in the trade long enough to know better!
Pulling a meter does not always disconnect the service.
Nor is pulling the meter considered the required "disconnecting means."
More to the point, mere posession of the security tools, as well as replacement seals, can very easily -on the whim of the PoCo alone- become a crime. "Posession of burglary tools" is one such charge that may be charged.
Utilities have some of the atributes of governments; it's their meter; and they have the right to control access to it.
