In recent months, Washington, D.C., area residents have been reporting a spate of copper thefts from their homes. This breed of burglar doesn’t necessarily break into homes, but may instead surreptitiously remove gutters and even compressors in the still of the night.
In Chevy Chase, Maryland, the town published a December 30 message warning its residents to be alert to copper theft. While the threat is current, the trend isn’t new. The Washington Post reported back in October that thieves heisted the copper lightning rod off a historic church in D.C.; dismantled a Dumfies, Virginia, resident’s air conditioning unit to swipe the copper components; and endangered local residents by sawing off copper pipes and slashing electrical wires, in some cases causing gas leaks and flooding.
But a threat in the newspaper isn’t at all the same as a threat in the neighborhood. In Silver Spring, Maryland, on December 20, a homeowner reported the overnight disappearance of her air conditioning compressor to aghast neighbors on the Seven Oaks-Evanswood Community Association listserve. A realtor replied that the same thing happened on a property she sold in the District recently.
One Silver Spring family had their copper gutters and downspouts stolen not once, but twice. After the first incident, they installed a security camera, the Washington Post reported, and managed to catch the second set of thieves in the act in May.
That homeowner told the Post, “The beauty of an old house lies in details like blue aged copper gutters. I’m not going to keep putting up thousands of dollars of copper for people to steal. They’re stealing the charm of the house and everyone’s peace of mind.”
In August, Bethesda’s posh Westmoreland neighborhood also experienced a spate of copper downspout thefts, according to the Washingtonian.
The New York Times wrote about the nationwide copper theft trend in February, noting that the FBI labeled it a critical infrastructure threat as far back as 2008. That’s because thieves will take copper from wherever they might find it, including electrical wires, pipes, and underground conduits. How do they do it? In May, the District of Columbia Dept. of Transportation alerted residents via WTOP radio that the thieves might be posing as road crews. The report said an Interstate 295 sign went dark after thieves copped its wiring. Other areas went dark as thieves made off with copper wiring installed in underground conduits placed between manholes in grass medians, DDOT said.
The price of copper has almost quadrupuled in the past two years, making copper a desirable, though not easy, target for determined thieves. The problem is so prevalent that an advocacy group formed to push for federal legislation to help curb the thefts. The Coalition Against Copper Theft says the piecemeal legislation enacted by states to date, mainly documenting scrap yard transactions, isn’t adequate to bring the $1 billion per year problem under control.
Carol Bengle Gilbert writes about Washington, D.C., and Maryland for Yahoo! Contributor Network.