Scrap metal theft!

this is probably the most talked about topic on this forum lately. well im throwing in my thoughts on it. i think theft is a terrible thing i think that these scumbags are ruining peoples lives and businesses over a few hundred bucks. i dont think there should be new laws just stricter enforcement of the laws already in place. if we go hard on the thieves for a smalll amount of time theyll back down or be caught and arrested. another great thing about this forum is that thieves are right away jumped on and banned from the site as soon as they hint about stealing anything ( great job moderators) i really hope things change because if we have to pay for licenses some of us wouldnt be able to afford it and itll be pointless to be a scrapper unless you own a big business cause after licenses and all the other fees and BS your not really turning a profit. another thing that new laws would do is discourage recycling. its a very touchy subject but this is why we elect these officials to handle issues like this and if you guys dont think theyre doing a good job then (no offense) stop *****ing and moaning and go out and vote for people who you think can handle these situations otherwise just coming here and complaining isnt gonna change the world. no matter what we think weve most likely been part of the problem not by stealing but seeing it and not saying anything . sorry i went to a few topics and points there but thats what i think of all this hopefully it gets better and people learn to be good people.

yeah me too we shouldnt be joking about what we go so hard to prevent then your a hipocrit and if yu vote and lose 1 to 9999999 so be it at least you went and did something because if you and everyone else on this forum at least tries you can make that number alot closer

This weekend in our free town newspaper under the ''letters to the editor'' a guy had 4 double aluminum ladders stolen out of his yard and called everyone out on it, from neighbors who had to have noticed the folks drive up into his yard and load the ladders on a truck to the thieves themselves to the cops and scrap yard owners who may have taken these ladders in as scrap. To the cops he issues this - ''What are you doing about this?'' and to the yard owners this - '' If you take this in you have them on record please alert the police.'' He's correct in both of those statements. However, the problem with the police part in all this is simply that when the economy tanked police forces laid officers off and we were down to just a few it was I believe. Used to be a cop would cruise our neighborhood every hour on the hour. No more, you're lucky you even see them once a day now. When this all happened I said ''Watch, now petty crimes will go up everywhere because folks lost jobs, cant find jobs and know they probably wont get caught for crimes because there isn't enough police protection and time to devote to this.'' Well, its proving to be true. heck, we had a little old lady purse mugged in the parking lot of our local small grocery store! Unheard of stuff when I first moved to this town. Now, we have officers being added back in but not up to full force and ppl still don't have jobs so they steal. But that guy who wrote the article is correct but I have no idea if the police then went to all area yards and gave them a description of what had been stolen or not, if not then they either didn't care to put the time into that because of lack of time or what. It's all tied together - lost jobs, lost police force and brazen thieves. After the police force was cut the proof was in the ''Weekly criminal reports'' that used to number a handful and jumped to almost half a page. People like this are the ones who give ALL of us a bad name.

But then again if the ladders had been locked in the garage or chained to something they would not have been stealable

Used to be a time when you didn't have to lock everything up or chain it down to keep someone from walking off with it. Granted there have always been theives, it just seems like it's getting worse by the day.

A tweaker walked into my neighbors back yard and came walking out with his trolling motor and pressure washer. I confronted him and he put the stuff down and got into his truck and left. After being questioned by the law, he told the officer that he was looking for scrap and thought the stuff was scrap. I kept telling the cop that he was trespassing by going into the neighbors back yard. The guy got a warning not to do it again, WOOO scares me, what a joke.

I agree that you shouldn't have to lock everything up that's in your yard. I am from the sticks in Virginia and you never even eyeballed someone else's property unless you wanted a hunting rifle in your face. However, since I have been living in Denver I have had my bike stolen, my car broken into and the stereo stolen and my house broken into and various electronics stolen. I chalk it up to my small town naivety, needless to say I am overly cautious to the point of paranoia now. I now have my owners manual for my .38 special taped to the door and a beware of dog sign out front of the house. Colorado has the "make my day law", so if they can outrun my Australian Shepherd they won't be able to outrun my bullets.

It's sad that it's come down to dogs and guns to protect our property (yes, I have both). Law enforcement can't be everywhere all the time. Between drugs and the failure of a lot of parents to instill values, there is no easy answer.

You can do What I did.....Move into the neighborhood where the thieves live. They think I'm "One of their own" and aside from neighbor kids running through my yard, I've only had my car tossed once in 3 years. and that's simply because I forgot to lock it. Left the $800 stereo, the GPS unit and took my spare change.....

there should be a disclaimer on the forum to theives . this is for honest people . hope off or get your ass kicked

i had just packed a whole lot of stuff, motors, brass taps etc into a big plastic crate a few days ago & last night it was stolen from my yard.
i dont have a shed so its just the copper & s/steel that i put into the house at night.

the rest i stack in a corner of the yard & cover with an old car cover.

the bas***ds took a lot of stuff and its almost useless going to the 3 yards near me to check for it as theres nothing thats unique
its all stuff that anyone can have & i dont have any way of identifying whats mine

the only thing is the plastic crate but they would have disposed of it in some bush.

a few moths ago 2 industrial sewing machine heads were stolen from the yard but i got it back cos it was easy to identify

Another problem is that you have to be very careful when retalliating against thieves and intruders on your property. You better make sure your actions stack up with police reports saying it was your life or theirs. It sickens me when attorneys are able to successfully defend intruders for injuries sustained and punitive damages against a property owner after trespassing. I saw on the news the other day a homeowner was charged with wrongful imprisonment when he caught some butt nozzle and locked him in a closet until the police came!!

i used to hear talk about making a citizens arrest, but I never tried to make one ; )

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Originally Posted by SoOrScrpr

Another problem is that you have to be very careful when retalliating against thieves and intruders on your property. You better make sure your actions stack up with police reports saying it was your life or theirs. It sickens me when attorneys are able to successfully defend intruders for injuries sustained and punitive damages against a property owner after trespassing. I saw on the news the other day a homeowner was charged with wrongful imprisonment when he caught some butt nozzle and locked him in a closet until the police came!!

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If in your house make sure they dont get out....dead men tell no tales!

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Originally Posted by BRASSCATCHER

If in your house make sure they dont get out....dead men tell no tales!

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Yep, if you just wound them, they'll sue ya.

When I was moving to a bigger house and was not at the old house gathering stuff my old neighbor saw some one backed up in the driveway so she went back there and this woman was loading up anything metal she could find like all the patio furniture and other stuff. So my neighbor asks what she is doing and she says "I'm picking up the stuff that the evicted people left behind". 1. she was trespassing. 2. We were not evicted and were still moving.