Metal Thefts Mainly In Rural Areas

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31585, 24 January 1968, Page 1

Metal Thefts Mainly In Rural Areas

Thefts of metals, particularly copper, had in recent months occurred mainly in rural areas, where the materials were not guarded, the head of the C. 1.8. in Christchurch (Detective Superintendent F. A. Gordon) said yesterday.

“The metals are heavy items for power boards and other bodies to move, but if they are valuable they should be kept under some security,” he said. “From Blenheim to Bluff there are signs of an increase in the number of thefts because of the value of the metals, particularly copper.” The problem of copper thefts would possibly only be overcome if the. Second-hand Dealers Act were amended to make the sale and purchase of scrap metal, particularly copper, more subject to police checks.

A difficulty at present was in recognising stolen metal after it reached dealers’ yards, Mr Gordon said. It was the taxpayer who had to meet the cost of large thefts-, as the property stolen usually belonged to a local body, a power board, or a Government department. The trouble was the unlicensed dealer, whose source of

supply could not, under the existing regulations, be traced. Mr Gordon said he considered the amendment needed was one which would make it impossible for other than local bodies, Government departments and power boards to sell any valuable scrap metals in lots worth more than $lO. In January It was reported to the police that copper cable worth about $2OOO had been taken towards the end of last year from an M.E.D. depot on the corner of Garlands Road and Cumnor Terrace. In December scrap copper worth $5OO was taken from a locked yard at the Central Canterbury Electric Power Board depot at Duvauchelle. Copper, both scrap and new, valued at more than $l9OO was taken in three separate thefts in the South Can-terbury-North Otago area during December and January.