Posted on 10/01/2007 4:18:52 PM PDT by BBell
Police struggle to stop post-Katrina looters who are cashing in on rising copper prices at the expense of rebuilders
On a hot weekday morning, as the city starts to wake, the line at a bustling downtown scrap metal yard stretches six people deep. Machines whir in the background, dust clogs the air, and a forklift loaded with dented building downspouts darts about. Squares of squished metal line the barn-type building like bales of hay.
The men in line are a motley mix of anxious opportunists. Some in construction boots and tool belts come to the recycling center in sleek pickup trucks. Some in too-big basketball shoes riddled with holes come by on bicycles or push grocery carts.
Each man carries copper for sale.
With prices for salvaged metals soaring, the sale of copper has become big business across the country, with bits and pieces bought and sold for about $2 and $3 per pound. The common metal used to plate pennies can be found everywhere: in pipes in homes, in electrical wiring, in air-conditioning units.
And it is that teeming business that police say is sparking a tidal wave of property crimes. The number of copper-related thefts in New Orleans this year is through the roof, especially in the city's flood-ravaged regions. Businesses, schools, a synagogue, countless affluent homes and demolished houses all have been stripped -- some several times -- by sticky-fingered freelancers.
State legislators and local leaders across the country have taken notice and are pushing proposals to tighten restrictions on scrap metal recyclers.
City Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis, who represents eastern New Orleans, has proposed several ordinances to tighten restrictions on sales. "We're not trying to stop legitimate economic development; we're trying to stop crime," she said.
Copper theft has hit rebuilding sections of the city especially
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
As an electrical contractor that has been ripped off by copper thieves..I enjoy it when the thieves cut into HOT wiring!
Everything they have is left there!
They used to hang horse thieves.
One of my relatives lives right near Youngstown. One of the jobs he does is close up foreclosures in Youngstown. He told me that some of the houses have been stripped clean of their copper and siding.
Yep. Hung 'em with copper wires.
I hate to admit it but the Hispanics were a welcome sight after dealing with our own home grown derelicts.Get back to us on that when their jobs dry up...The loss of construction jobs and the increase in crime around the country isn't a coincidence.
“Yet the losers in Louisiana steal everything that is given to them by our tax dollars.”
Read the other posts. This is not a development unique to Louisiana or New Orleans. BTW, it may interest you to know that we pay taxes down here too.
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