Idaho lawmakers take aim at metal thieves
Sunday, March 29, 2009 12:12 AM PDT
BOISE (AP) — Idaho lawmakers hope to thwart metal thieves with a bill that would make it tougher for people to sell some metal items if they can’t prove they own them.
House Bill 163 has already passed the House and is expected to be voted on soon by the Senate.
In Idaho, copper wire from utility trucks, power poles and substations has been stolen. Farmers have lost irrigation wheels, pipes and sprinkler heads.
‘‘The ag community was losing quite a bit,’’ said Rep. Steve A. Kren, R-Nampa, a co-sponsor of the bill with Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum. ‘‘If it wasn’t bolted down, it was gone.’’
Michael Kane, a spokesman for the Idaho Sheriffs Association, said streetlight poles and fixtures, manhole covers and funeral urns ‘‘are not the kind of things people would just normally have around the house.’’
If passed, the measure would repeal the state’s laws from the 1970s on buying and selling scrap metal. It would require metal sellers to sign a declaration affirming the metal they’re selling is not stolen property.
Officials said the requirement will deter some metal thieves and create a paper trail making metal thieves who persist easier to catch.
‘‘I believe in the bill,’’ Michael Cataldo, regional manager for Pacific Recycling, told the Idaho Statesman. ‘‘I think it’s good for the business owner, scrap seller and the general public.’’
He said the proposed law wouldn’t be too onerous for scrap metal dealers, and bring Idaho up to date with Washington, Oregon and California.
‘‘It is nothing out of the ordinary,’’ he said. ‘‘It has been coming down the line for quite some time.’’
Authorities in southwest Idaho said metal thefts have dropped compared with last summer, when metal prices were higher and many thefts were the result of people looking to convert stolen metal into cash for drugs. Copper and aluminum are most often targeted.
‘‘The price of metal is down a lot, so there’s no market for it,’’ said Caldwell police Chief Chris Allgood.
The price of copper has dropped to about $2 a pound, about half of what it was selling for at its peak last summer when metal theft proliferated.
‘‘During the summertime, it was very tough,’’ said Cataldo. ‘‘There were people stealing stuff left and right. It was crazy.’’
The measure would exempt transactions under $20 so that those wishing to recycle pop cans wouldn’t face burdensome regulations.
