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The list of commercial buildings that have suffered high-dollar copper thefts in recent months runs the gamut from pharmacies to retail stores to a topless joint.
When I was talking to Bill Ingraham, a two-time victim of copper thieves, he explained how he had installed an alarm system and posted a sign that warned thieves that if they messed with his building’s wires, an alarm would sound and police would be summoned.
After being hit the second time, Ingraham said he was thinking of changing the wording to say, “If the power is cut, an alarm will sound and you will go to hell.”
Yes, Ingraham is a minister, and copper thieves have hit a new low: They’re stealing from churches.
I don’t know why this surprised me so. Churches occupy commercial buildings, which are what copper thieves are attracted to. They’re looking for electric transformers and lots of wire. And like many other businesses that have found themselves victims of one of the newest and more destructive property crime trends, they are vacant for long stretches.
Still, the idea of knocking over a place of worship for its electrical cable is …
Ingraham, the senior pastor at Church of the Good Shepherd, must have read my mind.
Metal thieves often target electrical wiring for its copper. Wire was taken by thieves from this electrical panel box at a vacant building in February. (Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal.)
“Stealing is a sin,” he said. “It’s not any more of a sin if it’s a church instead of the dry cleaner or the yoga studio, but, yes, it is a sin.”
At a recent news conference, Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry referred to a “massive increase” in copper being stolen in the city to explain a rise in commercial burglary in Albuquerque in the past three years. Of the commercial thefts last year, 172 – or 14 percent of the annual total – were of copper.
Why? Copper prices jumped from about $1.49 per pound in 2008 to more than $4 today. The potential for a big payday increases the risk thieves are willing to take, and copper thieves here and in other cities have become bold.
Using bolt cutters, thieves often cut the locks on a PNM electrical transformer box and on a business’s electrical box. Then, they snip the wires at both ends and pull, using a wire puller or even attaching wire to a vehicle and driving away. The wire is literally pulled from the poles or out of an underground conduit.
Stealing copper is an expensive headache for the victims. The effect on a business is an immediate loss of electrical power. After that, there’s time spent dealing with PNM, an electrical contractor and an inspector before the power gets turned back on. It can take days and, in the meantime, the place is usually out of business.
Churches, of course, don’t “lose business” while they’re without power. But they suffer as well. Nighttime events are canceled. In the winter, the heat goes off and pianos go out of tune. And those insurance deductibles – for losses that range in the thousands of dollars – add up.
“We as ministers have commiserated about it,” the Rev. Frank Yates, pastor at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church told me. “It’s a terrible problem for us.”
Churches are amping up their security systems to protect themselves and praying for more legal reform that would cut off the profit incentive of copper thieves.
State lawmakers failed this session to pass a bill that would have raised copper theft to a felony in the event that the crime caused a power outage.
House Bill 57, sponsored by Rep. Debbie Rodella, D-Española, passed the House 60-0 but died in the Senate Judiciary Committee despite a favorable recommendation from the Senate Public Affairs Committee. A bill with the same aim, by Sen. Steven Neville, R-Aztec, also died in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In Albuquerque, copper thefts are actually down from where they were in 2011, in large part due to law enforcement efforts and more monitoring of metal recyclers. City inspectors have been checking recyclers to make sure they have proper licenses and are properly documenting metal sales.
Mayor Berry is proposing a city ordinance that would prohibit cash transactions at precious metal recyclers to make the process more accountable. “We’re going to make it more difficult to sell stolen property,” he said, by requiring people selling metal give their names and receive a check as payment.
He said 95 percent of metal recyclers are honest and do a good job of refusing to buy any metals that appear to have been stolen, but that the city will have to make it more difficult for the remaining dealers who are buying hot copper.
Several states now require metal recyclers to photograph copper sellers, see and copy their driver’s licenses and wait at least three days for payment.
Yates, Ingraham and other pastors, of course, would rather spend their time polishing their sermons than dealing with police officers and electrical contractors. Perhaps a citywide Sunday sermon theme is in order: Thou shalt not steal.
UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Leslie at 823-3914 or llinthicum@abqjournal.com. Go to www.abqjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal
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