Agencies discuss ideas to stomp out metal theft > Crime > Stories > Lakewood

RECENT STORIES

Hospice of Saint John focuses on life and living ( Erin Feese/YourHub.com )
City briefs: Public can give input on 2008 budget ( Becky Martinez )
Copper bandits cause eco-tears ( Robin Morris )
Artopia presents a benefit concert for the arts ( Artopia Arts Activist )
Stand up to cancer at the Colorado capitol ( Dianna Hemphill )

share a story | more postings »

YourHub.com \\ Lakewood \\ Stories \\ News \\ Crime

Agencies discuss ideas to stomp out metal theft

e-mail to a friend | print this | link to this

NEXT › ‹ PREVIOUS

Contributed by: Erin Feese/YourHub.com on 4/18/2008

The skyrocketing cost of copper and other commodity metals has driven thieves to raid air conditioning units, construction sites and power stations, leaving citizens and businesses with thousands of dollars in damages. During a meeting April 17 at Lakewood City Hall, 480 S. Allison Parkway, local law enforcement agencies discussed ways to combat the thefts.

STOMP, or Stop Theft Of Metal Products, is made up of more than 20 law
enforcement agencies, including the Lakewood and Arvada Police Departments and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, 18 area metal recyclers, four area power companies and members from private security. It was formed in November of 2007.

The goal of the group is to foster communication between police and scrap metal recyclers with the goal of making metal theft more risky for thieves, said Sgt. John Pickard with the Lakewood Police Department. When thefts or arrests occur, the information is quickly made available to all members in hopes of reducing similar crimes and arresting those responsible, he said.

"Our goal is to reduce victimization," he said. "In law enforcement, we like to be able to catch the bad guy, but as an individual, I'd rather not be victimized."

In Lakewood, several air conditioning units have been dismantled for the copper tubing inside, Pickard said. In January and February, eight cases and $55,000 worth of damage was reported before the suspects were arrested, he said.

Another metal target has been backflow preventers that are part of sprinkler systems.

Skyline Property Management, a company with properties in Lakewood and Golden, has been "really hit hard" with theft of backflow preventers, said Mick Morgan, a company employee who attended the meeting. The devices cost a $300 to $600 apiece, he said.

Pickard said Lakewood recently busted a copper operation in a garage on the 200 block of Teller Street. Police discovered the individuals were also involved in identity theft, burglaries and methamphetamine.

"They were involved in a lot more than stealing copper," he said.

Pickard said the metal theft problem is not unique to Lakewood, or the metro area -- metal theft is happening across the nation. In Charleston, N.C., a father and son were electrocuted to death in March after they attempted to steal copper wire from a power substation, he said.

Pickard presented ideas for prevention, such as working with scrap metal recyclers to enforce a law which requires scrap metal buyers to obtain identification and other information from sellers and only accepting air conditioning parts from a air conditioning company.

Aaron Hansen, of Digital Home Inventories, presented information on DataDots. Originally developed as World War II spy technology, the tiny polymer dots - about the size of a period - are laser-etched with a unique code. The dots can be brushed or spray painted on an object and revealed using an ultra violet light, Hansen said.

The code on the dots is registered to the owner in an online database and can be read using a magnifying glass. The technology is currently popular in Australia and has increased the recovery of stolen vehicles, Hansen said.

Metal theft cases in Lakewood

Between 2005 and 2006, the price of copper shot up and the number of cases skyrocketed.

2004 -- 17
2005 -- 13
2006 -- 66
2007 -- 66
2008 -- 33 (year to date)

SOURCE: LAKEWOOD POLICE

[Report this as objectionable content.]

SUBMIT COMMENT

Rate the above story

Current Rating

Based on 1 user ratings.

Talk Back : submit comments to the story

*Note: you need to log-in to add a comment or rating.

Thank you! Your comment has been updated.

SAVE AND SHARE THIS STORY

digg	Google
del.icio.us	Yahoo!
reddit	Newsvine

What is this?

STORY RSS FEEDS

All stories

All stories in Lakewood

All stories by Erin Feese

WANT TO WRITE FOR YOURHUB.COM?

Want to see the stories you write and the photos you shoot featured in the YourHub.com Thursday print section available all over the Front Range and with home subscriptions of the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post? All you have to do is register, then post a story or column, start a blog or tell everyone what events are happening in town. We will print the best stories, columns, event listings, photos and blog entries in our print sections.

Loading Ad