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

Copper broadband?

[Drakkenmensch]

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

Simple solution

[germansausage]

Do the same for scrap metal dealers what they do here for pawnshops. Put a four week hold on all payments. Payment by cheque only, mailed to the name and address of the government ID of the person selling the scrap metal. Discourages 90% of the "disorganized" (i.e. drug addicts and homeless) opportunistic or desperation type theft. The delay also lets the power and telco companies come around and retrieve their stolen goods before they get shipped off or melted down.

Re:Economic opportunity

[Pojut]

Back when I was working as a mechanic, we had a guy that came around and bought up all our scrap. He was doing pretty well for himself...likely earning as much if not more than we were working in the shop. He ended up disappearing for a couple of months...when he returned, he said that he had been almost caught ripping copper out of a construction site (something he did regularly, apparently...which explains his lavish lifestyle given his collecting scrap life.)

He said he could make more money in a single copper run than he could in nearly three weeks worth of scrap collecting. I don't think opportunities or a lower income gap are the problems...I think it's an activity that pays really well compared to the effort required, at least if our old scrap guy is any indication.

Soooooo......

[wowbagger]

So, I mess with your package, and I get sprayed with a florescent liquid containing DNA.

I hope they don't try to patent this, as I think there may be prior art.

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.