A Downside To Rising Scrap Metal Prices
With prices of metals going up in value over the past several years thieves have been stealing metal from everywhere. Last Summer, thieves stole two heat pumps from a commercial property I own. That property shares a parking lot with a restaurant so there's usually activity there most of the time. I reported it to the police and the officer who came out said that sort of thing happens mostly every night any more. He said that on the same night, at a golf course which is right across the road, thieves stole the compressors out of six heat pumps. The summer before, thieves broke into a basement window of a farm house I had listed on a 160 acre farm and ripped out the copper heating and plumbing pipes. Thieves stole copper wire and metal from my neighbor's pivot irrigation system on his grain farm. Then, they stole his Bobcat loader from his chicken farm. When he reported it to the police they said, "come down and fill out a report." They didn't even come out to investigate. When I tell these stories to friends or acquaintances they usually say, "Oh, that's nothing, thieves stole ...." and they proceed to tell me their own stories about metal theft in the area. Theft of metal and farm vehicles in my area has become big business! As I did, get a security system with cameras and hope that's enough of a deterrent to keep thieves away. Maybe you'll even get lucky and get a good mug shot that will help prosecute some of those thugs. I was raised in the country and I still live on a farm. Growing up, we never locked our doors. Now, we're lucky if the metal doors and door locks themselves are even there when we get home.
