Metal theft in any form is a direct attack on our communities. That’s the view of British Transport Police deputy chief constable Paul Crowther who, today, is heading a national day of action aimed at addressing one of the UK’s fastest-growing crimes.
During the past six months, incidents involving metal theft have dramatically increased across the country with more thieves targeting copper, lead and other metals than ever before.
The thieves often operate on the premise that the crime is almost ‘victimless’ and no-one, other than large corporations, suffers as a result of their activity. According to the BTP, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
DCC Crowther, who heads the ACPO Metal Theft Working Group, said: “Every single metal theft is an attack on either an individual or the wider community. When thieves steal lead from residential properties it’s the householder who suffers. When they steal the same material from a school or church then hundreds of people are potentially affected by the crime.”
Crowther continued: “That number increases dramatically when the criminals target cabling – particularly rail, power and communications – which can deprive thousands of people of transport links and vital utilities.”
On a daily basis metal thieves are having an enormous impact on our lives – often without us realising.
The last time your train was delayed or cancelled, was this caused by cable theft? When your broadband service last dropped out, had cable thieves been at work? When your house insurance premium increased, was this because of the effect of metal theft?
Huge threat to infrastructure
The answer to all of these questions is? Probably.
Metal theft has a huge impact on our day-to-day lives and to date has been responsible for failure of phone lines to houses and businesses, the collapse of electrical supply to homes, businesses and even hospitals, breaks in supply of gas and water, delays and cancellations on the railway and even the breakdown of traffic lights.
Metal theft presents a very real threat to the infrastructure and day-to-day running of the UK, a fact which has now brought several organisations together to tackle the issue.
DCC Crowther added: “The police, partner agencies and many industries recognise the threat posed by metal thieves and have been working together to develop ways of addressing the problem. We can no longer operate in isolation, dealing with the crime only as it affects our own area of expertise. We have joined together to send a clear message to prospective thieves that should they target any form of metal, they will be tracked down and brought justice.”
Socially unacceptable crime
That’s exactly what this latest day of action is all about: sending a message to criminals that metal theft is high on the agenda, socially unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
Key to this is the work being done by police forces across the country, in conjunction with the British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA), to educate scrap metal dealers and metal recyclers (who are often the first port of call for thieves looking to make a quick buck).
British Transport Police detective sergeant Chris Hearn, who has been working on the issue of metal theft for several years, said: “Often these dealers are unaware that the metal is stolen and can find themselves out of pocket when checks carried out by police result in the material being seized.”
He continued: “BTP, other forces, agencies and industries have been out to almost all known scrap dealers to show them exactly what should – and shouldn’t – be accepted. It’s imperative that we continue to work with the BMRA to educate scrap yards, stop them from unwittingly taking in stolen metal and, in turn, reduce the opportunities for thieves to make money.”
It’s not just the UK’s infrastructure which is threatened by the criminal activity: it’s also the lives of the thieves themselves.
Tony Glover of the Energy Networks Association said: “Those who steal from the energy infrastructure are dicing with death. Only a couple of weeks ago a 16-year-old was killed in a substation while a theft was taking place.”
Four fatalities, 31 injuries
There have been more than 7,000 incidents in the past year leading to four fatalities and at least 31 injuries.
“Stealing from the energy infrastructure is, quite simply, exposing the public to an unnecessary risk,” stated Glover.
The thieves take this risk for very limited returns. DS Hearn added: “While the price of metal has increased dramatically during the past few months this is not necessarily passed on to the thieves. Certainly, unless metal is taken in large quantities, it’s far from a lucrative activity for criminals.”