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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Detroit Free Press
Rep. Brandon Dillon, R-Grand Rapids, a cosponsor of the bill, said it’s not the most pressing issue lawmakers need to address. But, he said, “a lot of people, I think, would appreciate knowing what they get when they order a pint.”
Do you support having a bill that would regulate a pint of beer be 16 oz?
A pint of beer should measure up under new bill in House
www.freep.com
A bill introduced last week would amend the Liquor Control Act to make it an an offense to 'advertise or sell any glass of beer as a pint in this state unless that glass contains at least 16 ounces of beer.'
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Sun Oct 06, 2013 4:47 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Sun Oct 06, 2013 4:39 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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A pint of beer should measure up under new bill in House
October 6, 2013 |
A pint has 16 ounces, but some pint-style beer glasses with thicker bottoms hold only 14 or 12 ounces. / Detroit Free Press file photo
By Paul Egan
Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau
LANSING — Some Michigan lawmakers say they want to make sure pub goers don’t get shortchanged on their beer.
A bill introduced last week would amend the Liquor Control Act to make it an an offense to “advertise or sell any glass of beer as a pint in this state unless that glass contains at least 16 ounces of beer.”
A pint has 16 ounces, but some pint-style beer glasses with thicker bottoms hold only 14 or 12 ounces.
Gary Lord, a self-employed plumber in Lansing, said he’s been in a few taverns where the pint glasses didn’t appear to hold what they advertised. He would support such a law.
“A pint should be a pint, and a U.S. pint to the best of my knowledge has 16 ounces,” Lord said as he sipped a beer at a Lansing bar Friday.
Rep. Brandon Dillon, D-Grand Rapids, a cosponsor of the bill, said it’s not the most pressing issue lawmakers need to address. But, he said, “a lot of people, I think, would appreciate knowing what they get when they order a pint.”
The proposal could be in for a frosty reception by some. Bar owner Mark Sellers of Barfly Ventures, based in Grand Rapids, said the term pint is often used in Michigan as more of a description of the style of beer glass than an exact unit of measure.
His bars use 16-ounce pint glasses, but many use 14-ounce glasses, and some use 20-ounce glasses modeled on the larger British pint, he said. Sellers said many bar owners might be up in arms if they have to to buy all new glassware.
John Holl, editor of All About Beer magazine in Durham, N.C., said the proposed legislation is “a good step forward” for Michigan, which he described as a great beer state.
Pint glasses that look like the regular size but actually hold less beer, known as “cheater pints,” are particularly common in places such as airport bars, which have captive customers, but can be found almost anywhere, Holl said.
Businesses that don’t want to replace their glassware can stop describing the beer they offer as pints, he said.
The primary sponsor of the bill, sent to the House Committee on Regulatory Reform, is Rep. David Knezek, D-Dearborn Heights. He did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com |
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Sun Oct 06, 2013 4:46 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Illegal scrapping bills scrapped for now
12:40 PM, June 18, 2013 |
By Kathleen Gray
Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau
LANSING — A package of bills strengthening laws against illegal scrapping of metal and the junk yards that buy the materials are going back to the drawing boards
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A work group toiled for 18 months on the bills that would require scrap yards to take photos of the scrap metals they’re purchasing and delay payment for three items frequently stolen, including copper wire, air conditioner components and catalytic converters.
After three days of hearings, including testimony Tuesday from scrap yard dealers, state Rep. Hugh Crawford, R-Novi, who chairs the Regulatory Reform committee said another work group will take a crack at the bills.
“Everybody would like to have something accomplished, but be sensitive to the issues you raised,” he told scrap yard dealers at the committee hearing.
The dealers took exception with the provisions in the bill that would require the three-day waiting period before paying for the frequently stolen materials, and not paying in cash.
“There are some bad actors in our business,” said George Curran, attorney for the Responsible Recyclers Association. “But the current set of legislation not only punishes the bad actors, it also punishes the good actors.”
Michael Clark, of Twenty First Century Development in Clarkston, was more pointed.
“This proposed legislation is punitive, it was drafted by someone who doesn’t know anything about the business,” he said. “Let’s get the bad actors, the people who are committing the crime. Please don’t punish the good guys because you want to catch a couple of bad guys.”
Curran suggested a better route would be to impose a $1 per transaction fee on all scrap sales. That money would go to the Michigan State Police for more enforcement of scrap metal theft laws already on the books, and to develop a database of all the people who have been charged with metal theft, that could then be shared with scrap yards.
Police, prosecutors, utilities and railroad executives have testified that illegal scrapping has become an epidemic. They say it creates safety risks when things like metal rail ties are stolen, or when utility transformers are broken into and wires scavenged, leaving customers without power.
The number of incidents of illegal scrapping has increased from 527 in 2011 to 1,402 in 2012, according to the Michigan State Police.
A bill regulating scrappers and scrap yards was passed in 2008, requiring dealers to collect thumb prints and photo IDs from scrappers. But the thumb prints are often illegible, said state Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, who sponsored the bill. And photos of the materials will give police and prosecutors the additional tools needed to make a conviction stick.
The bills would require scrap metal dealers to identify and maintain records of the people who bring in scrap metal to sell, as well as photos of the metal being sold and the vehicle bringing in the metal.
It also would prohibit a person from selling, or a scrap dealer from accepting, metals that are: public fixtures; new materials used in manufacturing or construction; equipment or tools used by contractors; materials clearly marked as belonging to someone other than the person selling the material; decorative or cemetery-related items and items removed from a railroad company.
Another bill would require scrap dealers to pay people only with a check, money order or debit card that can be converted to cash. The dealer would also have to wait three days to pay a seller for frequently stolen items like catalytic converters, air conditioners and copper wire.
The bills won’t be taken up again until at least September, when the Legislature returns from a two-month summer break. |
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Sun Oct 06, 2013 4:53 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Bills to crack down on illegal scrapping pass state House committee
5:49 PM, October 1, 2013 |
A package of bills to strengthen the laws against illegal scrapping of metal and the junk yards that buy the materials passed the House Regulatory Reform committee Tuesday.
By Kathleen Gray
Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau
LANSING —
After a couple of years of work, a package of bills to strengthen the laws against illegal scrapping of metal and the junkyards that buy the materials passed the House Regulatory Reform Committee Tuesday.
The bills, which passed on votes of 11-3 and 12-3, would require scrap metal dealers to identify and maintain records of the people who bring in scrap metal to sell, as well as photos or video images of the metal being sold.
The dealer would also have to wait three days to pay a seller for frequently stolen items such as catalytic converters, air-conditioners and copper wire. The seller could either accept the payment by mail or in person three days after the transaction.
The bills also would prohibit a person from selling or a scrap dealer from accepting metals that are: public fixtures; new materials used in manufacturing or construction; equipment or tools used by contractors; materials clearly marked as belonging to someone other than the person selling the material; decorative or cemetery-related items and items removed from a railroad company or electric utility.
Police, prosecutors, utilities and railroad executives testified in the spring that illegal scrapping has become an epidemic and is creating a safety risk when metal rail ties are stolen and utility transformers are broken into and wires scavenged, leaving customers without power.
The number of incidents of illegal scrapping has increased from 527 in 2011 to 1,402 in 2012, according to the Michigan State Police.
There was resistance to the bill from some legislators, who said they were concerned about added regulations on the recycling business and on sellers who would face additional burdens before they could sell the materials.
But in the end, the bills passed the committee and now move to the full House for consideration.
“This bill has gone through a lot over the last several months,” said state Rep. Hugh Crawford, R-Novi, chairman of the committee. “Both sides are a little bit mad or a little bit happy and I guess that makes it a good bill.”
Contact Kathleen Gray: 517-372-8661, kgray99@freepress.com or @michpoligal on twitter. |
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Sun Oct 06, 2013 4:57 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Every day I drive through the city and see once very nice homes trashed. These are homes that if they were in the county would be selling for $80,000 to $100,000 or more. I remember my shock about three years ago when I saw a Detroit home selling for $180,000 that was identical to a neighbor's home in Flint that couldn't sell for $30,000.
Yeah I know it is location, location, and location. But when I look at Andrew Highsmith's "Demolition means Progress" and the history of segregation in Flint, I get angry at the continuing patterns of discrimination and corruption. Is it any wonder the homeless and the criminal see these abandoned home as a source of income. When the bar and the old bank burned near Chevy-in-the-hole, the buildings were still smoking as groups of people busily extracted what metal they could. This level of criminality may be the price Flint pays for decades of discrimination.
Today's joint Detroit newspaper did an excellent piece on how the corruption of the Kilpatrick Empire contributed heavily to the bankruptcy in Detroit. There has been widespread corruption in Flint that continues to go unchecked. That past and present corruption threatens Flint's future. What the media glosses over is the heavy toll this corruption has taken. At on time HUD was demanding as much as $2 million plus returned because of present day mismanagements. Even the State of Michigan got an audit that demanded corrective actions.
The businesses that deal in scrap metal contribute to the politicians that sit back and watch as our urban areas are gutted. The Genesee County Land bank first requested over $25 million to demolish mostly Flint homes, homes that are completely gutted. These politicians are always looking to their campaign coffers and not the communities that suffer because of the businesses they protect.
The two scanner websites also report similar vandalism starting to appear in the out county. How will these politicians feel when it hits their most supportive voting constituents? In the city people go to work and return to find their siding missing or their hot water heaters and copper piping gone and their basements flooded. How will that scenario play out in the suburbs? |
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Sun Oct 06, 2013 7:10 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Seems like the UK is dealing with this problem better than the US.
Visit Bosch Security
SecurityNewsDesk.com
Winning the war on metal thieves
By Drew Swainston on August 15, 2013
metal-theftMetal theft is a common, costly and fast-growing crime. The battle lines have been drawn and Government, the police and businesses are stepping up to take on the thieves.
As prices for metals and copper cable escalate, thieves continue to be opportunistic but also more audacious in a bid to get a bigger haul. Thieves target railway lines, church roofs, pipes, beer barrels, war memorials, and catalytic converters and, as recently reported in East Surrey, criminals have even resorted to stealing metal from children’s play areas.
An estimate from the Association of Chief Police Officers puts the total cost of metal theft to the UK economy at £770 million every year, and Local Government Association figures estimate that over 90 per cent of UK councils have been affected.
Recent information released by Nottinghamshire Police, from a Freedom of Information request submitted by the Nottingham Post, showed that only around 10 per cent of metal theft sees someone brought to justice. If that estimate is extrapolated across the UK, it means a huge number of metal thieves are operating outside the arm of the law.
However, measures are being made to crack down on the rogue elements in the scrap metal industry. The Government’s new Scrap Metal Dealers Act will see a national register of scrap yards in force from the start of October, to be run by the district councils, and those operating without the right paperwork could face a fine of up to £5,000. Cash transactions have been made illegal since December 2012 and ID is now required at the point-of-sale.
On the railways they do seem to be making inroads. Figures released earlier in the year by Network Rail showed a 67 per cent decrease in incidents of metal and cable theft in the 12 months to April 2013. This week, British Transport Police data showed cable theft had dropped by 47 per cent in the last year. The end to cashless trading has been cited as a major factor in the drop but incidents remain common-place, causing huge disruption for passengers and financial frustration for rail companies.
CourtroomThere are calls in Scotland for similar measures to ban cash payments and regulate the industry, as seen in England, after two major incidents of cable theft in the space of three days last month closed the Aberdeen to Inverness railway line. Measures have been proposed and the Scottish Government hopes they can be moved forward in the autumn.
In recent months, SecurityNewsDesk have also covered trials and initiatives designed to deter the metal thieve. This includes metal marking techniques to protect lead roof tiles at the historic Northampton Guildhall and a similar scheme to protect electricity sub-stations in Wigan. Yorkshire-based company Trace-in-Metal are also using ballistic technology to fire non-melting coded microdots into lead to be able to trace lead stolen from heritage buildings.
The rogue elements are being targeted by a two-pronged approach. The Scrap Metal Dealers Act will cut down on their activities and metal marking schemes will trace any discovered stolen metal back to its source – which should aid the police in tracking and prosecuting more metal thieves.
The war on metal thieves is gathering momentum; the only question is who will prevail?
Tagged as: editor's view, metal theft
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Article by Drew Swainston
Drew has written 312 articles on SecurityNewsDesk. |
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Sun Oct 06, 2013 7:46 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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September 17, 2013 at 1:00 am
OUR EDITORIAL
Clamp down on scrap metal thieves
Senate bills address a problem that is a major contributor to blight in Detroit and other communities
Both scrappers and scrap yards need legal deterrents to dry up the trade of scrap metal in Michigan. Purchase Image
Both scrappers and scrap yards need legal deterrents to dry up the trade of scrap metal in Michigan. (David Guralnick / The Detroit News)
Blight is eating away at neighborhoods in Detroit and other urban communities in Michigan, abetted by scrap metal thieves who strip buildings of their pipes and wires. These thefts render many of the structures too expensive to rehabilitate.
The Michigan Senate is considering a three-bill package aimed directly at illegal scrappers. The new laws would give police and prosecutors more tools to combat the thieves, and to hold metal dealers accountable for what they purchase. Lawmakers should give their approval.
The legislation would require anyone selling scrap metal more than two times per year to purchase a valid permit from their local sheriff’s office for $25.
Dealers would have to maintain records of what they buy, and from whom, and would only be able to buy scrap from sellers who have obtained a permit.
Penalties for scrap dealers who buy or sell stolen metals would be increased. They include loss of their license for one year, five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
The legislation has the support of the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, among others. Officials say the proposed laws will help with the prosecution of scrappers and scrap yards that violate the law.
One key component is the establishment of a Scrap Metal Offenders Registry, financed by a $1 fee on each metal transaction, paid by the seller.
The revenue would be divided equally between a Scrap Metal Offenders Registration Fund and local law enforcement to help create and maintain the registry.
Stopping illegal scrapping is an essential piece of urban renewal efforts. In Detroit, scrappers have become so bold they even steal the copper parts out of streetlights, accounting for an estimated 25 percent of the non-working lights in the city.
Metal product thefts also hit schools, churches, cemeteries, parks, farms, automobiles and occupied houses.
The legislation has bipartisan support in the Senate; it’s co-sponsored by Sens. Virgil Smith, D-Detroit, and Michael Kowall, R-White Lake Township.
Detroit and other struggling urban communities need every possible weapon in their war against blight. These new laws should give law enforcement more leverage against both thieves and the crooked dealers who enable them.
Passage of the package would signal that Michigan is serious about attacking illegal scrapping.
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130917/OPINION01/309170008#ixzz2h24RP81C |
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Mon Oct 07, 2013 5:58 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Entire Bridge Stolen for Scrap
Nate Berg
Oct 10, 2011
Entire Bridge Stolen for Scrap ERIC THAYER / Reuters
It was probably a strange call to make, let alone to receive. “I couldn’t believe it,” Gary Bruce told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after a neighbor called to tell him that a bridge his company owned had somehow disappeared. As WTAE reports, the 50-foot bridge in North Beaver Township in western Pennsylvania was seemingly stolen sometime in the past two weeks.
Police believe thieves used a torch to dismantle the steel bridge, presumably to sell its pieces as scrap metal. The bridge was only sporadically used, according to Bruce who represents New Castle Development, the company that owns the property. He tells the Post-Gazette that the company had recently decided to close the bridge off to the public because of rising incidences of metal theft.
Rising scrap metal prices and high numbers of empty foreclosed homes have led to a spike in metal theft, especially high-value copper wiring inside the walls of many homes. Metalprices.com reports that copper is worth more than $3 per pound, up from less than a dollar in 2003. Manhole covers have also been stolen, as have train rails.
This Pennsylvania bridge, though, is not the first to be stolen. A Polish bridge was stolen in 1998, thieves in Ukraine stole an 11-meter bridge in 2004, and a 200-ton bridge was dismantled and stolen in Russia in 2008.
Still, it’s kind of a strange evolution of the desperation inspired by the economic recession. Once all the abandoned homes have been gutted, will the country’s crumbling infrastructure be the new target?
Keywords: Pittsburgh, Theft, Foreclosures, Infrastructure, Steel, Bridges, Copper, Pennsylvania, Scrap Metal
Nate Berg is a freelance reporter and a former staff writer for The Atlantic Cities. He lives in Los Angeles. All posts »
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Fri Oct 11, 2013 8:10 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The Detroit free Press printed an editorial and a local commentary by Ficano asking the state legislation to pass the scrapping bills.
Drive through almost any neighborhood and the destruction wrought by scrappers is evident. Take Flushing Road east from Flushing Road and in the first block many of the buildings are destroyed. The former Patty McGees has the windows broke out. Across the street the former Dover's Power of Authority building has been obviously vandalized. the next building, a two unit commercial building that once housed retail, has lost the front walls and the buildings are gutted. Corunna Road, Dort Highway and streets everywhere have this destruction. |
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Fri Mar 14, 2014 9:20 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Wayne County Excutive Robert Ficano had his commentary printed on March 4, 2014 (9A) . In his commentary Ficano asked to "Stop scrap metal thieves and save our cities". ficano noted Michigan was in the Top 10 in the country for insurance claims based on scrap metal
The piece was well written and defined the problem accurately. As he described the enormity of the problem, he noted the reward for this vandalism. "Under the current system, scrap metal thieves turn their haul into an immediate payday. The thieves take their goods to a scrap metal dealer, submit their product and, most often, get immediate cash. And, more often than not they head back out to the streets to strip, pllage and get paid again."
Ficano thanked Detroit Democrat State Rep. Rashida Tlailb for creating House Bill 4593 also known as the Scrap Metal Reform Act. This bill would stop immediate payment and prohibit the sale of public fixtures, burned copper wire and any item the buyer should know is stolen property.
The three day payment period and the requirement that the seller provide a street address to be paid by a check has become the topic of political debate. The Michigan Senate sent the bill back without the three day waiting period. the senate also included a requirement for the scrap metal industry to self regulate.
Ficano disagrees with the self regulation and noted there were only 19 scrp metal theft felony disposition in Michigan for the year 2012.
Ficano referenced the State of the City address by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. Duggan brought up how "allowing our urban areas to be picked for scrap metal is unacceptable. The practice destroys neighborhoods, costs property owners and created dangerous situations." |
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Fri Mar 14, 2014 9:26 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The Free Press Editorial on march 7, 2014, "Have a scrap of sense and pass scrapping bill" (12A) followed upon the commentary by Ficano.
"The people doing the most to tear up this city right now are scrappers-scavengers who rifle through houses, churches, commercial buildings, development projects or even light fixtures to extract slivers of precious metal they can sell.
Their abettors are the buyers: scrap metal yards throughout the city and suburbs throughout thr city that buy, no questions asked."
The Free Press discussed how the "streets of Detroit are littered with the remnants of otherwise perfectly salvageable structures that have been ruined by scrapping." this description could fit that of many urban areas like Flint.
Realtors are telling me that scrapping has hit the City of Davison. The realtors are banding together to target and prosecute thse who seek to destroy their properties for sale.
The editorial strongly criticized the ruse used by the scrapyard owners as they claim they don't know if the metals are stolen. The free Press called the claims of the scrap metal owners as being simple business people completing transactions to be simply ridiculous and not worthy of argument.
While supporting processes that "deconstruct", the editorial board found "no justification for the scourge of illegal stripping that's damaging Detroit".
"The city's not a carcass for economic buzzards, but it has been treated that way for years, thanks to perilously laxr egulation of this industry.'
This editorial chided the senate for the changes made to the house version. Their position is that the damage done to the urban areas by this illegal scrapping demands harsher oversight. |
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Fri Mar 14, 2014 10:32 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Are politicians weakening the penalties because these scrap yard owners contribute to their campaigns or are friends of the politicians.
The constituents of these politicians deserve better. it is time the voters stop procrastinating and rally to vote self serving politicians out of office.
Instead of using tax payer funds to demolish these gutted-out homes, many could be salvaged by private individuals as homes. When homes and other properties are stripped, the surrounding property values drop and the neighborhood blight increases. it is time the politicians protect their constituents and not thei business cronies. |
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Fri Mar 14, 2014 10:46 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Michigan scrap metal theft bill hung up despite leaders' push
6:50 AM, March 15, 2014 |
By David Eggert
Associated Press
Five years after Michigan targeted copper thefts plaguing cities like Detroit and disrupting railroads and utilities, plans to better restrict sales of stolen scrap metal are caught in a legislative fight despite agreement among political leaders and law enforcement that action is needed.
The legislation would tighten rules in what can be a lucrative scrap metal market, giving police and prosecutors more tools to bolster cases against thieves.
Scrapyards would have to take photos or video of metal they buy. Sellers could only be paid by check or money order, or they could redeem their money at an onsite ATM that takes photos of them getting the cash.
Knowingly selling or buying street light poles, guardrails, traffic signs, cemetery plaques and railroad equipment generally would be off limits, too.
But it’s one provision — to make people wait three days for payment for copper wire, air conditioners and catalytic converters — that’s angering scrap buyers and dividing lawmakers.
The House last year voted 98-9 for a bill with the three-day waiting period. The Senate approved the measure 38-0 but said delayed payment would be unnecessary if the scrap/recycling industry instead created a real-time database of each purchase of pertinent items.
With neither side budging in the new year, one potential compromise being floated would nix the three-day waiting period if payments are mailed.
“It’s great for our law enforcement to have an address. No criminal wants to sign the back of a check and go cash it. That’s gold for our prosecutors to go in front of a judge with a signed check,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, who twice has had catalytic converters stolen from her own vehicle.
Tlaib said she opposes talk of setting a $75 threshold, though, under which sellers could still get money on the spot and not have to wait for the mail.
“A criminal’s going to go somewhere, make sure the load is less than $75 and go to the next scrapyard that’s less than a mile away and do the same thing. It’s not a fix,” she said.
In Michigan, especially Detroit, thieves are targeting abandoned dwellings, construction sites and even occupied premises to strip copper wiring, plumbing, window air conditioners and the like.
The state had the ninth-highest number of insurance claims for metal theft in the U.S. in recent years, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Metropolitan Detroit ranked fifth-worst among urban areas.
Current laws subject people who knowingly buy or sell stolen scrap metal to felony penalties. Despite legal requirements that dealers maintain records and sellers show a driver’s license, law enforcement says successfully prosecuting cases remains difficult.
In arguing against the three-day waiting period, industry officials say it would punish law-abiding customers and burden honest businesses with mailing and administrative costs. They say police already have tools at their disposal to investigate metal theft such as sellers’ names, copies of their IDs, thumbprints and license plates.
“You’re taking all these honest, normal people and telling them I can’t pay you for three days,” said Jonathan Raven, a lobbyist for Lansing-based Friedland Industries Inc.
The law up for revision already includes a requirement that buyers hold onto certain items for seven days, which he said should give police departments enough time to follow leads.
“Since the law passed in 2008, it’s been almost impossible to get law enforcement to come out and look at anything,” Raven said.
While Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration and others have spent more than 2½ years working on the legislation, it’s been in the spotlight of late because both the governor and new Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan called for action in their recent annual addresses to residents.
Duggan wants the House, where the bill is pending, to “hang firm” and said recently it’s not so much the three-day waiting period that’s most important, but mailing payments.
“To be able to have a clear paper trail to the seller is really the most critical piece,” he said.
Though the legislation is attracting attention in Detroit, it’s sponsored by a Republican from the Thumb region who heard of a man stealing cable from local wind turbines.
Rep. Paul Muxlow of Brown City said he understands scrap dealers don’t want more government mandates.
“There’s some very good scrap operators, but all of them aren’t. We think there are some quite complicit in this whole deal,” he said.
House leaders are hopeful a compromise is within reach this month while noting concerns over ironing out how to regulate smaller $5 and $10 transactions.
Sen. Virgil Smith, who’s pushing a related bill to ease prosecutors’ evidentiary path in scrap metal cases, said the debate over payments has “taken over” when the focus also should be on funding.
“We thought it was going to work in 2008 and it didn’t work,” he said. “A law’s only as good as its enforcement. We’ve got to put real money behind law enforcement.” |
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Sat Mar 15, 2014 11:30 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Detroit-area law enforcers call for clamp-down on illegal scrap metal
Print Gus Burns | fburns@mlive.com By Gus Burns | fburns@mlive.com
on March 12, 2014 at 7:10 AM, updated March 12, 2014 at 7:17 AM
DETROIT, MI -- Law enforcement from across Metro Detroit made a plea to the public Tuesday asking them to urge Lansing legislators to support stiffer scrap yard sales reforms.
They want increased ID requirements, a three-day hold on payments, elimination of cash transactions and the creation of a Web-based scrap metal database.
A version of the the scrap mental legislation passed by the state Senate removed the three-day hold with the implementation of a tracking database that dealers would have a hand in creating, monitoring and enforcing.
Detroit Crime Commission Director Andy Arena, the former head of the FBI's Detroit office, called it the equivalent of the "fox guarding the hen house."
He also called Detroit's scrap metal epidemic the "circle of death."
"A house goes vacant, gang bangers, drug dealers, prostitutes move in, then the scrappers come in take out anything they can get out of it, then they set it on fire so they can get at the copper wire," Arena said. "Then the dumpers come in."
The same holds true for public properties, like Detroit Public Schools-owned Southwestern High School in Detroit. The three-story brick school was vacated in 2012 and has been ravaged by metal scrappers. According to neighboring business, the metal looters are spotted there almost daily.
The scrap metal lobby, largely opposed to more industry restriction, was blamed as for the Senate's decision to file down the teeth in the initial bill.
"Any capital is an interesting animal," Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. "These folks are busy doing their daily jobs and I think the message isn't heard as clear by some people standing in those halls."
Detroit Police Chief James Craig said the impact of the scrap metal problem struck the department when scrappers stole copper wiring from a transformer near Lawton and Warren roads about 7 p.m. Monday. The transformer malfunctioned knocking out power in a four-block radius, including the Detroit Police Academy where two classes of recruits are currently training.
He said the department launched Operation Scrap It on Feb. 20 and has since inspected 20 scrap yards with the assistance of state and Warren police in Detroit, Warren, Redford and Hazel Park.
The inspections resulted in 50 code violations being issued.
Additionally, the chief said the Detroit Criminal investigations Section filed four felonies against individuals affiliated with Detroit scrap yards. Three yards are at risk of having their business licenses revoked or suspended, Craig said.
The chief said the efforts have been "marginally successful" and "just a scratch" at the surface of the problem.
Detroit Police Sgt. Rebecca L. McKay heads a unit of up to six officers charged with enforcing scrap laws.
"I've been doing this for over five years and it's really just identifying individuals -- most of the time it's the same people doing these crimes," she said. "Once we identify them we can go after them."
McKay said there are some organized illegal scrapping groups, but it's usually desperate individuals -- gamblers or drug addicts -- looking for quick cash.
With a three day hold on payment, she said "they're going to find something else to do."
John D. Dingell III, the owner of Dix Scrap Iron and Metal in southwest Detroit, says he believes the Detroit Police Department and others, while undercover, have recently attempted to sell illegal metal, like copper tubing attached to water meters, to his operation as part of a sting.
"This happens about once a week," he said to MLive in an email Tuesday. "DPD, DCC, DTE, and Conrail bring us juicy loads of prohibited items."
Dingell said he hasn't heard of any dealers biting on the enticing but illegal metals.
"Meanwhile, the thieves were everywhere over the weekend," he said. "You should see the inside of Southwestern and the other mothballed schools in Detroit.
"Watched a swarm of thieves carrying steel pipes out of Southwestern (High School) Sunday evening ... DPD doesn't lift a finger to stop this pillaging."
Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson attended the announcement, he said as a show of support for new Mayor Mike Duggan and the city, which he said is "on a comeback," as much as for the legislation.
Arena said the biggest sticking point in the legislation for him is that there needs to be "a paper trail," no straight cash transactions.
"That gives law enforcers a fighting chance," he said.
House Bill 4593 as proposed by the House and the version passed by the Senate. |
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Sat Mar 15, 2014 7:08 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Sat Mar 15, 2014 7:10 pm |
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