Copper and robbers.

Byline: The Register-Guard

A bronze statue of Sacagawea is stolen from Lewis and Clark National Historic Park. Steel spikes are pried from railroad ties in Lake Oswego. Copper is pulled from electric substations and the walls at construction sites. Sections of guardrail vanish from roadsides. Catalytic converters containing platinum are removed from cars. Brass firehose fittings are taken from buildings. Aluminum irrigation pipe disappears from a Klamath County farm. And now, FOOD for Lane County faces an $8,000 repair and cleanup bill because thieves stripped copper tubing from a refrigeration unit.

These are instances of metal theft - a low-payoff, high-cost crime that has become an epidemic. The thieves take metal that can be sold for a few hundred dollars or less, enough to feed a methamphetamine habit for a while. The thefts often create serious hazards to public safety. Repairs can cost tens, even hundreds, of times the value of the scrap. In some cases, as with the theft of public artworks, the cost cannot be calculated.

The 2007 Legislature enacted a law requiring scrap dealers to keep better records and make photo copies of identification presented by people attempting to sell metal. The law also makes metal theft a class C felony, punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and up to five years in prison, if the value of the stolen property is $750 or more.

As FOOD for Lane County's experience shows, the law hasn't had much effect. Whoever broke into the food bank evidently was more worried about buying drugs today than about going to prison tomorrow. Or maybe the thief knew there wasn't much reason to fear imprisonment. Even with current high commodity prices, the stolen copper could be sold for only about $90 - too small an amount to trigger the toughest penalties under the 2007 law.

House Republicans plan to introduce a proposal in the 2009 legislative session defining any metal theft as first degree theft. It also would allow metal thieves to be charged with a new crime of aggravated criminal mischief, punishable by up to 36 months in prison.

Another approach would be to measure the severity of metal thefts by the cost of repair or replacement rather than the value of scrap. That would make the theft from FOOD for Lane County an $8,000 crime, not a $90 incident unlikely to attract investigative or prosecutorial attention.

The GOP proposal also would forbid scrap dealers and metal recyclers from accepting any coated metal that had been melted, or wiring whose coating had been burned off. This would reduce the theft of wiring - a prevalent and costly type of metal theft - but probably wouldn't end it. Other types of metal, ranging from manhole covers to cemetery urns, would still be targeted. At the same time, governments should avoid needlessly encumbering the $65-billion-a-year scrap metal industry, one of the nation's largest exporters.

One approach would be to require that payments for scrap metal be made by check, and mailed to an address 14 days after delivery. That would discourage thieves looking for instant cash. Any thieves who were not discouraged would take the risk of leaving an address where they would go to pick up their check. The 14-day delay in payment would give law enforcement agencies time to check with recyclers to find out whether anyone had recently sold stolen metal, such as copper refrigeration tubing. Legitimate sellers of scrap metal would not be inconvenienced at all.

Metal thieves attack private property and public infrastructure. It's a crime that depends on a ready market for stolen goods. If that market were closed to criminals, a costly, hazardous and offensive assault on civilization would shut down as well.