Police forces and partner agencies across the UK have once again targeted hundreds of scrap yards and made numerous arrests as part of a co-ordinated period of action aimed at tackling metal theft.
Metal theft is widely acknowledged as one of the fastest-growing crime types in the UK. Wherever you live, it’s likely that metal theft in some shape or form has had an impact on your life, such are the great effects this crime is having on all of our communities.
For the British Transport Police, metal theft – particularly the theft of lineside cabling on the railways – is second only to terrorism in its list of priorities.
Meanwhile, other police forces and industries are taking a similarly serious view as thieves target power cables, telecoms cables, roofing lead, road signs and even war memorial plaques to sell on for ill-gotten profit.
An attack on our communities
The Association of Chief Police Officers’ lead on the subject of metal theft, the British Transport Police’s deputy chief constable Paul Crowther, said: “Every single metal theft is an attack, in some form, on our communities. Whether thieves target lead from a church roof, earthing cable from a power sub-station or broadband cables, it’s local residents and businesses who suffer most. After all, it’s their services, utilities and community buildings which are destroyed or disrupted.”
Crowther continued: “This has to stop. The sort of co-ordinated action we saw last week, in tandem with longer term solutions, is certainly having an impact, but this cannot be done in isolation. Thankfully, we are receiving support from Government in the form of legislative change.”
The Government is clear that changing the law is the only sustainable, long term solution to tackling metal theft. So, from the autumn, new laws will make it illegal for metal recyclers – often the first port of call for thieves looking to make a quick buck – to deal in cash.
This will mean that thieves looking to sell on stolen metal will have to provide bank account details or be paid by cheque – providing police with a clear audit trail back to those who initially appropriated the metal involved.
Additionally, fines for all offences under the existing Scrap Metal Dealers Act will be significantly increased and new powers of entry for the police introduced.
Banning cash payments by scrap metal dealers
Lord Henley, the Home Office minister responsible for crime prevention and anti-social behaviour reduction, explained: “The Government is taking urgent action to tackle metal and cable theft head on. As a first step, we intend to ban cash payments by scrap metal dealers and significantly increase the fines for all offences under the existing Scrap Metal Dealers Act. Days of action like these are sending a clear message that metal theft will not be tolerated.”
Forces across the country joined with partner agencies to tackle metal theft during last week’s period of action and, though all results are yet to be collated, to date there’s confirmation that:
Recovered items included: ScottishPower cabling, traffic management cabling, BT cable, Network Rail cable, copper piping, beer kegs, shopping trolleys and milk trolleys.
Agencies involved in the period of action included: ScottishPower, Western Power, BT, Network Rail, the Environment Agency, Smartwater, National Grid, Kegwatch and the Department for Work and Pensions.
On a wider scale, police and partner agencies in the UK are working with colleagues across Europe to tackle metal theft at home and on the continent.
This week, in fact, colleagues from across Europe will come together for a two-day conference in London to discuss the issue and develop strategies for dealing with the problem.
