Putting the Squeeze On Broadband Copper Robbers

nk497 writes "As the price of copper rises, thieves have taken to stealing broadband cables, taking out internet connections and slowing down the rollout of super-fast broadband by giving engineers more work to do. To battle the criminals, UK provider BT has 21 investigators on staff to track down thieves and has started using SmartWater bombs that spray stolen property and the criminals. The SmartWater liquid carries a DNA fingerprint that links a criminal to the scene of the crime and police units carrying ultra-violet light detectors can use the incriminating stains to make an arrest after the trap has been sprung. 'We had one case recently where someone in Dagenham was stopped and searched after acting suspiciously and the police used a UV light on them and could show that they had been tampering with the equipment,' said Auguste. The SmartWater liquid can also be pasted inside cables, making them easier to trace — and less appealing to scrap metal buyers, helping to cut demand for stolen copper."

Comments

Perhaps

[shitzu]

Perhaps move to fiber should be considered

Re:Perhaps

[Pojut]

We had one case recently where someone in Dagenham was stopped and searched after acting suspiciously.

When will people learn to stop acting suspiciously after they do something they aren't supposed to do?

If someone were to try to rip out newly-installed fiber, would they walk around pointing to their glasses?

Re:Perhaps

[AaxelB]

When will people learn to stop acting suspiciously after they do something they aren't supposed to do?

A large subset of thieves (and many other types of criminals) are also stupid, or have low self-control. If you can control yourself and are reasonably smart, you can probably profit more through various less risky legal means.

Re:Perhaps

[AlecC]

Very relevant point indeed. An argument I often have with the hard-on-crime lot. They propose punishments would deter them - but they are not criminals in the first place. The real criminals are, all too often, stupid and/or ill educated and/or have mental health problems and/or addiction problems. A system tuned to deterring comfortable middle glass good (in law at least) citizens simply doesn't work against the kind of people who commit 95% of crime. But it is those middle-class voters who set the legal agenda.

Copper broadband?

[Drakkenmensch]

Scrap metal recyclers don't pay much for fiber optics, just saying.

Stealing for pleasure versus necessity

[MikeRT]

There are two types of theft: stealing for necessity (food, medicine and such) and stealing for pleasure.

The guy who steals because he's starving is not even remotely the same as the guy who steals something which he doesn't need to survive.

There was a time when the latter were regarded without any mercy and rightly as the scum that they are. You could use force, even deadly force when necessary, in defense of property that no one needs to meet basic human needs.

Guess what? People pulled this shit a lot less often back then.

The irony of the accusation that letting people use serious force to defend their property is a form of barbarism is that the unlawful taking of property, especially when it damages entire parts of the community, is a real form of barbarism. Basic crime is a rejection of civil society.

Re:Stealing for pleasure versus necessity

[L4t3r4lu5]

If I steal an apple from your fruit bowl, I can feed myself for a couple of hours.

If I steal your 52" plasma screen TV and fence it, I can feed myself for a month at least.

What I steal isn't the issue. Why I steal it isn't either. A homeless person stealing your TV is no less serious than a couple of chavs out with his mates doing the same thing. Theft is theft. If we looked after the homeless and less well off, we wouldn't have them stealing our stuff. At that point, we'd only have the opportunist and the greedy, which could well be dealt with by the methods you outlined. However, we need to care for the needy first.

Re:Simple solution

[Anonymous Coward]

The delay also lets the power and telco companies come around and retrieve their stolen goods before they get shipped off or melted down.

By the time stolen wiring gets to a scrap dealer it is generally in no state to be used for its original purpose. The only way it'd be worth retrieving is if it was wire/cable still on the original spool with undamaged insulation. And any scrap dealer that would even think of buying that knows damn well that they are buying stolen materials. Ditto when some twitchy methhead shows up with hundreds of pounds of copper wiring that got "burned up in a fire" or a similar amount of nice shiny household copper pipe.

Re:Economic opportunity

[Dunbal]

I think what the parent's point is that many of these folks are doing this to make a living. When one has their backs against the wall, they do desperate things.

      This is the typical bleeding heart argument. And poor drug dealers, they're just trying to make a living too.

      You realize that a morally sound person will refuse to engage in this type of activity on principle, no matter how hard up they are? These people are the scum of the earth, their parents should never have had children because certainly they had no idea how to raise them. These opportunists are out to make a quick buck because they think the world owes them something, and they have no interest (or are probably amused by) the damage they cause to society. I'm just sad that because of bleeding heart like you we're not allowed to shoot them.

Re:Economic opportunity

[david@ecsd.com]

The war on theft is one of those basic prohibitions that's been around since the dawn of civilization. When I leave for work in the AM, this prohibition helps to make sure my shit is still in my house when I get home. It's one of the lubricants for a smooth running society, and legalizing theft (as you seem to be advocating) is a monumentally Bad Idea.

Re:Scum Bags

[mangu]

In Saudi Arabia a man would have his right hand amputated if caught stealing.

Do you think having both arms and legs amputated is a more just punishment?

Re:Economic opportunity

[caerwyn]

I don't believe that the parent said anything about not *blaming* the perpetrators for the crime. But punishment, in and of itself, is rarely a solution to anything- witness the perpetual failure that is the war on drugs.

It's perfectly reasonable to suggest that we investigate and attempt to fix the causes of crimes, *in addition* the punishing those caught perpetrating them.

The world is not black and white. Your "you must be a bleeding heart who's causing all our problems by not letting us shoot petty criminals" attitude is not a solution, it's part of the problem.

Re:Simple solution

[dasdrewid]

what they do here for pawnshops. Put a four week hold on all payments.

That sucks. Half the point of a pawn shop is "oh shit, I have to pay rent in 2 days but don't get paid for 4!" A short term loan where you get to choose your collateral (and which, if you default on, they're not going to come after your house or whatever).