http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2011/09/29/east-alton-copper-gang-led-double-lives/

Looks like someone needs to install CCTV.

Some people at my facility stole 2 -1 .5 thick by 20 foot long copper weld bars for a sub-ard weld machine. about a year ago they took some 2/0 welding lead fine strand.

I would say they do.

Pan, Tilt, Zoom..... Fire at will!!

We do have cameras so "the thiefs" snuck it past "eagle-eye" security.And took 6- 5 gallons of stripped copper wire. Economy is awesome!!

I know of 1 installation where they responded to thefts and vandalism by installing CCTV. They figured that way they would save money by reducing the thefts.
After about a year they saw no thefts, so they figured that they could save even more money...by turning off the lights that the CCTV was using to see the site.

Some people are so dumb that the only thing they're good for is being a source of comic relief in a stressful world.

ghost...

Many of the newer CCTVs use infra-red vision or ambient light like a night scope.

Once the word gets out that cameras are present most thieves move to un-watched targets.

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Digital wireless TV cameras ruined the criminal enterprise of one dude in NY. He routinely stole building materials from unattended job sites: specifically trimmed, un-cut timber poles.

Being a product of nature he was able to fence them without discount.

He was caught red-handed -- lost all of his equipment used in the crime -- and was given 17 years to think it over + 3 hots and a cot.

His MO ran back twenty years!

In the case at hand, he stole $40,000 worth of poles!

So, no wonder the security business is exploding.

So when he finishes his 17 year sentence for the $40k in poles he will have made just under $2,400 per year.

Apparently crime does pay...it just doesn't pay very well.

We get so many pictures of thieves on the TV news, it appears they think nobody is ever watching. In real life the cameras have to be very good to actually get an identifiable picture.

I really have to wonder how people "fence" some of the things that get stolen. The cops are trying to get tighter here. One rule that might make a difference is there is no more "cash" at the time of sale. They have to mail you a check. This record gets tied to a video of the seller and pictures of the items being sold.
I think it is a lot easier to catch the guys selling the scrap than it is to catch them stealing it. Once you close up the sale end, the theft end doesn't make much sense.

One of the local scrap yards is requiring photo ID, and not taking any 'walk-in' trade with shopping carts.

Another is paying only by check, and requires photo ID and lic. plate of vehicle.

They have been requiring photo ID and a thumb print here for a long time.
I think the real problem might be "bundlers' Who sanitize the scrap by, cutting it up to disguise the origin, cleaning it, sorting it and crushing it and then turn it in to a bigger processor in bulk.