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February 23, 2007

Surveillance Cameras Catch Metal Thieves

Booming economies in China and India, along with record amounts of construction in the US and the rest of the western world, have created an extremely high demand for raw construction metals like copper and steel. Contractors and electricians complain about the soaring costs of metal as thieves ransack incomplete buildings, stripping copper wire and pipes to sell for scrap. Scrap metal thieves have become so brazen as to risk their lives - one man recently died trying to strip live electrical wire from a transformer.

So it was business as usual in Southington, CT, when two men broke into a storage facility and stole a large bronze ring. At 5 feet in diameter and weighing over a ton, this $3,000.00 hunk of metal was taken during the night from CV tool by two men. Luckily, businesses in this area, who have all had to deal with the negative impact of scrap metal theft, had recently installed a high-tech IP camera to keep watch over the industrial complex during non-working hours. A guard became suspicious when they saw two men entering CV tool on a Sunday night, and was able to immediately identify them as thieves and use the surveillance tape to help local police pursue them. The two thieves were caught a short distance away, with the ring sitting on the top of their car.



One of the most beneficial uses of video surveillance, and certainly its most popular application, is theft prevention. Although we're used to seeing these kinds of cameras in retail shops, grocery stores and banks, it's clear that surveillance cameras are also bringing serious benefits to industrial companies and warehouses, which struggle with theft issues just like their retail counterparts.



These types of anti-theft industrial surveillance can be used effectively on large and small scales. Digital IP surveillance cameras are secure enough to monitor an industrial site (like a bridge or office building), yet flexible enough to keep unfinished homes in a subdivision free from theft as well. This type of security, although it may be expensive now, could potentially be extremely beneficial. Lowering copper and other raw material thefts could ease prices, making construction more affordable and helping sustain growth worldwide. Could a surveillance camera do all this?

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Posted by Jennifer on February 23, 2007 12:07 PM

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