For years now, theft of copper and other metals has been a problem for businesses, especially those under construction. Scrap metal yards, construction sites and external air conditioning units are still among the most common targets for copper thieves. Criminals can cause tens of thousands of dollars in damage to harvest relatively small amounts of the metal.

The market value of scrap metal is high, driven by demand for building materials in Asia. And enterprising thieves, most looking to support methamphetamine habits, strip job sites of copper wire, brass tubing and sheet metal, selling the scraps to metal recyclers.

Unfortunately, stolen metal can be on its way to Asia within a day or two, so for now protection and prevention are your best tactics.

Businesses don’t need to worry so much about steel and iron; it only brings 3 cents a pound on the market. But anything non-ferrous (a magnet won’t stick to it) – copper, stainless steel, aluminum – should be locked up out of sight.

You may already know that copper wiring for air conditioners is a top target, but thieves will also take aluminum ladders, scaffolding, even patio furniture, fence railings and metal railings along sidewalks.

Here are a few tips to help you in the fight against copper and metal theft:

• As thefts occur mostly at night, invest in area lighting or security measures.
• Don’t leave anything — even ladders — outside your building. If thieves see something “valuable” lying around, they’re likely to think similarly valuable items reside inside your building.
• Don’t leave metal items or copper coils on your trucks — lock them up and out of sight.
• If you have new construction, begin electricity service as soon as possible before the building is occupied. The same is true when vacating a building — keep the location in your name and maintain service until the new tenants have moved in.

How to safeguard substations and transformers
If you own your own substation and transformers, metal theft means additional safety issues for you. Here’s what to look for when entering a substation:

• Check the fence to see if there are any signs of forced entry (holes cut through the chain link or disturbance to the ground around the perimeter of the fence).
• Inspect key equipment that could create potential safety hazards. The big ones are power transformers (neutral to ground connections) and potential transformer ground connections. If these are disturbed, extreme caution should be observed – voltage when touched can be as high as several thousand volts! If this type of tampering is discovered, do not touch this equipment and call for qualified electrical help immediately.

• Remove or reduce overgrown landscaping and other obstacles that shield the substation interior. By doing this, thieves don’t have a place to hide.
• Enhance lighting to improve visibility inside the substation.
• Upgrade the standard cyclone fence fabric with an expanded steel fabric that can be welded in sheets or panels to the fence framework. Thieves cannot get bolt cutters onto the fabric to make a hole. This is expensive but has proven to be highly effective in stopping break-ins.
• Consider installing intrusion detection and security cameras in the substation. Tied to a security response, they can be fairly effective in stopping theft.

Reporting suspicious activity
The general public can help by reporting suspicious activity. If you see people hanging around construction sites or metal structures at the wrong time of day or night, call 911. And if you have been victimized by metal thieves, make sure you contact county or city law enforcement authorities so that information can be passed on to scrap-metal dealers.