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Uploaded: Thursday, July 19, 2012, 10:47 AM
Buchanan bill toughens penalties for copper thieves, buyers
Signed by Gov. Brown, will take effect Jan. 1
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by Glenn Wohltmann
With copper thefts a growing problem in the area, Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill by Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo) that stiffens penalties for both buyer and sellers.
The bill, AB 1971, makes it clear that the theft of copper -- along with stainless steel and aluminum -- from public property is an act of vandalism in addition to a theft. It also increases the potential fine from $250 to $1,000 for those who knowingly buy copper without verifying that it has been legally obtained.
"Copper theft has been a rapidly increasing problem for our public agencies," Buchanan said. "By incentivizing purchasers to look more closely at the copper they are buying we hope this bill will be another deterrent against this type of theft. If no one wants to buy stolen copper, thieves will have no reason to steal it."
San Ramon and Danville have both been targets for copper thieves in recent years, with thousands of dollars in copper wiring and alloys stolen.
In June 2011, thieves broke into the Veterans Memorial Building construction site in Danville, stealing copper wire and construction tools. About a month later, approximately $2,000 worth of copper wire was stolen from the PG&E Testing Facility on Crow Canyon Road. Kevin Lundberg, 29, a Castro Valley resident, was arrested for grand theft and possession of stolen property in that theft.
A man and woman were arrested in 2010 after being found with stolen copper wire and burglary tools. That was around the time that copper wiring was stolen from Sycamore Valley Park, and a plaque listing names of those killed in World War II was taken from the All Wars Memorial at Oak Hill Park on Stone Valley Road.
Copper theft may not sound lucrative, but in 2010 police found one person who had cashed checks for copper sales adding up to $78,000.
BART has also been a target for copper thieves.
"Copper theft from public transit agencies is not only financially costly but critical public threat to public safety," Buchanan pointed out. "Damage to train tracks, traffic lights, and other transit infrastructure creates an unacceptable risk to the public that this bill will work to help stop."
Last month, a task force that included local law enforcement agencies, the district attorney's and sheriff's offices, PG&E, AT&T, Union Pacific Railroad and BART collaborated in the undercover operation that led to the serving of search warrants at seven junk dealers and recycling centers in Contra Costa County.
At each of the recycling centers, police seized documents and stolen materials such as copper wire and communications cables apparently purchased from thieves, according to the district attorney's office.
Buchanan's bill will take effect Jan. 1, 2013.
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Posted by Pedal Power, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jul 22, 2012 at 10:50 pm The sad thing about this sort of crime is that the cost of the damage done is out of all proportion to the rewards the thieves reap. IMHO $1,000 doesn't sound like that much - any advance on $10k?
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Posted by Rick Pshaw, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jul 23, 2012 at 10:36 pm Boy, that will make them stop and think...
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Posted by Julia, a resident of the Alamo neighborhood, on Jul 24, 2012 at 10:03 am The buyer's of this metal are just as guilty as the seller's...
Oh my, where did I hear that before...OH I think I remember. It has something to do with drugs.
The seller makes money selling to the buyer and in most cases the buyer makes money selling it to the ultimate user.
Sounds just like a regular illegal business transaction.
Jerry Brown and Joan Buchanan can have their wet dream...NOTHING WILL CHANGE. The player will only get smarter.
Sacramento...what a bunch worthless people.
Thank for listening...Julia Pardini from Alamo
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Posted by C. R. Mudgeon, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jul 24, 2012 at 5:21 pm Hopefully the legislation is worded carefully, so that alloys of copper are included (such as bronze and brass). Thieves like to target brass and bronze plaques, off of gravestones, memorials, etc.
A friend of mine in the telecom industry used to have to deal with thieves cutting down large phone cables to get copper wire - since cutting phone cables is a lot safer than cutting power-lines.... Many times this would happen at remote locations, where it was a lengthy and costly process to do the repair. What was even more frustrating was when the copper thieves would cut a fiber-optic cable, not realizing until after the damage was done, that there's no copper in the cable - just glass fiber!
I fully agree that for this measure to be successful, it needs to go after both the thieves, and the buyers of the "scrap" metal.
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