Police in South Cumbria yesterday took part in a ‘day of action’ against metal theft along with neighbouring forces, North Yorkshire and Lancashire and officers from British Transport Police.
After 94 metal thefts were reported to police in the south of the county over the last five months (from 1 Jan 2011 – 24 May 2011), totalling a massive £85,000, police officers launched a dedicated 24 hour Operation to deter offenders and raise awareness of the issue.
Police across Cumbria, Lancashire and North Yorkshire dedicated resources to the joint Operation and in South Cumbria, officers conducted surprise visits to scrap metal dealers and thorough checks were made to ensure that staff members were following the right procedures and only accepting metal from legitimate sources. Records were examined in detail and officers conducted tests on scrap metal for the presence of Smartwater – an invisible marker that ‘tags’ property with details of its rightful owner.
In addition, high visibility stop checks were made on vehicles across the three counties where around 50 drivers were stopped and had their vehicles searched. No arrests were made but officers were able to gather a lot of intelligence during their activity and investigative leads were generated after officers located and seized a quantity of metal that is suspected of being stolen.
Detective Chief Inspector Mike Forrester said: “Yesterday’s operation was really successful in gathering intelligence of potential offenders. It sent out a strong message to them and to scrap metal dealers, that metal thefts are being investigated as a priority after victims here in South Cumbria have been left with repair bills totalling £85,000.
“We teamed up with officers from neighbouring forces as part of this cross-border operation to identify offenders that travel from county to county to commit crime. An important part of our day was conducting thorough checks at local scrap metal dealers. Metal thieves need to deposit their stolen metal somewhere so dealers are important - they have a pivotal role to play in driving down the numbers of metal thefts in Cumbria by only accepting metal from legitimate sources.
“Metal theft can be a profitable business and we want communities to be confident that we are doing all we can to target these criminals. Theft of common metals such as copper piping can cause a real disruption for vital everyday services such as water, gas and electricity and can have a negative impact on local people, so we hope that members of the public will support us and come forward to report suspicious vehicles or individuals.”
Inspector Dave Vickers from Morecambe Police, said: “Morecambe and Lancaster have suffered with persistent problems with scrap metal thefts. These thefts can range from waste metal taken from skips to lead stripped from school roofs.
“It has become apparent that some criminals are coming in to the county to steal scrap metal, or are bringing stolen scrap metal from their own counties into Lancashire in an attempt to try and sell it on without being noticed.
“We hold regular operations targeting this kind of criminal activity, but this most recent operation has shown the benefit of working with neighbouring police forces to share knowledge, intelligence and expertise.”
If anybody has information about metal theft or thinks that can help police with their enquiries, they are urged to contact south Cumbria CID on 0845 33 00 247 or call Crimestoppers to provide information anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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