Stop metal thievery
Cemeteries are places of peace, honor and reflection where families visit gravesites and remember their loves ones. Often the setting is quiet and nearly deserted, affording privacy as people pay their respects. And the setting makes cemeteries a perfect target for theft.
Police arrested a young couple last year in New Castle for stealing 300 flag holders from veterans' graves at a cemetery. The cemetery paid $30 each to replace all of the flag holders (at a total cost of $9,000), while the couple barely received $1 for each holder sold for scrap metal.
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Unfortunately, it's rare to catch metal thieves pilfering gates, plaques, flower urns or flag holders from a cemetery. Thieves even walked off with two 250-pound mausoleum doors (valued at $8,000) from a Pittsburgh cemetery.
When a child fell down a manhole missing its cover in Philadelphia in April, scrap metal theft was confirmed as a public safety issue. Philadelphia reported 2,500 missing manhole covers and storm sewer grates in the last year.
Copper prices have doubled in the last five years, and some churches saw rain gutters and spoutings disappear as a result. Aluminum, iron, steel and other scrap prices led to thefts of siding, pipes, wires, empty beer kegs and various building supplies. Thieves have targeted occupied and vacant homes, construction sites, restaurants and utility companies.
While police find it's hard to catch thieves in the act, thieves won't steal what they can't sell. That's why state Rep. Eddie Pashinski, a Luzerne County Democrat, introduced the proposed Scrap Metal Theft Prevention Act, House Bill 1742.
If this act is passed, it will be nearly impossible to sell stolen scrap metal in Pennsylvania. At the same time, legitimate scrap metal dealers will be protected from buying stolen materials.
The bill requires identification from people selling scrap metal and gives police the tools they need to prosecute thieves.
Pennsylvania residents, communities and business owners need the protection offered by the Scrap Metal Prevention Act. As the current legislative session nears its end, it's time for the Senate to pass the bill and send it to the governor.
Gene Kreitzer
Vice President, Pa. Builders Association
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