Rising Ripoffs
Meanwhile, cities face an uphill battle fighting this crime wave. Officials in Philadelphia have begun attaching locks to the covers. About 25 percent of the city's covers are now locked down. But that's a time- and labor-intensive process. In Philadelphia, the city hit hardest by this problem, city water officials and the police are urging the public to report any missing manhole covers and, if they see anyone stealing one, to please call 911 immediately so that there are no more accidents like the one that befell little Shamira Fingers. Says McColl, "We're making progress. But we have a long way to go and we really need the citizens' help."
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Member Comments
Posted By: ISRI @ 05/27/2008 12:22:19 PM
Comment: ???Rising Ripoffs: Thefts of Manhole Covers Increase as Metals Prices Soar,??? highlighted the growing problem of theft of recyclable metals due to the rapidly rising price of these materials. The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), has been working aggressively over the past few years to help solve the problem of metals theft, of which scrap yards are also victims. Our industry has developed tools to help law enforcement fight material theft crimes and to educate stakeholder groups about the need for comprehensive efforts to solving this problem.
One of the most important and effective tools developed by ISRI is our Theft Alert System, available to each and every law enforcement agency in the country. Whenever ISRI is notified of a metals theft, we immediately put out an email to all our contacts ??? not only in the state where the theft occurred, but in all surrounding states, giving scrap yards notice to be on the lookout for the material. We also issue ???reverse alerts??? to address the not uncommon situation where scrap yards have received materials they presume to be stolen and are looking for the original owners so the material can be returned. These efforts have been praised by local enforcement agencies for assisting in the arrest of numerous suspects. To view ISRI???s Theft Alert System, go to www.isri.org/materialstheft.
The scrap recycling has been and remains committed to working with law enforcement to help stem this problem plaguing all of us.
Robin Wiener
President
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries
Posted By: Gerhard_Kaiser @ 05/26/2008 9:15:34 AM
Comment: Well, this is a sign of the times that the US government can`t afford to spend billions as the World's policeman.
Posted By: jimmynathan @ 05/26/2008 3:39:27 AM
Comment: asdf