On 8/2/2011 8:57 PM, Oren wrote:
On Tue, 02 Aug 2011 20:29:25 -0400,
wrote:

They KNOW the cure for scrap metal thieves- eliminate the market. Make
scrap yards keep log books and get ID from all walk-in sellers, about
like a pawn shop. Several states have put that into effect, and it seems
to work.

Las Vegas will (honorable scrap yards) take a thumb print, copy of
license and if the money paid reaches a set amount checks are issued
in lieu of cash.

Some crooks haul material to California instead.
Well, you aren't gonna do much to discourage industrial-scale metal
harvesting, but few thieves have that kind of front money to set it up
as an ongoing operation. And the ones with any brain cells know state
border means federal time, if nailed. But the scrap yard as pawn shop
rules do mostly weed out the kids, and the low-lifes with bills to pay
or a habit to feed, and access to a pickup truck or old station wagon.
And hanging the occasional scrap dealer out in public, when obvious
stuff like manhole covers or new copper is found in his yard, gets the
message across to the other yards pretty quickly. Those cranes and that
railroad siding cost a lot of bucks, and no owner will tolerate a
counter guy making a few bucks on the side, if it means the place gets
padlocked while the cops do a wall-to-wall check of the yard.

-- aem sends....