In a recent report by APPG Metal, Stone, and Heritage Crime, it was found that metal theft has cost the UK economy half a billion pounds per year, totalling a cost of £4.3 billion. With the value only rising, we explore effective preventative methods you can adopt.
With copper demand only increasing, so are the costs and thieves have recognised this opportunity. Unfortunately, many industries utilise this metal, placing them at risk of this ever-growing crime.
Concerned about being the next victim of copper and cable theft? Read on to find out how to prevent your business from becoming a part of crime statistics.
The Cost of Copper and Cable Theft
The price of copper has been steadily increasing over recent years and this continued into 2024 due to a number of factors such as, increased demand and aging mines.
Therefore, items where there is high-value copper present like cables are becoming popular targets, with industries such as construction sites, vacant properties, railways and critical infrastructure being prime locations for criminals to obtain copper.
The damage and disruption caused by metal theft vary depending on the industry and level of theft, however, the repercussions go much deeper than just the financial loss caused.
For industries such as railways and transport, the impact can be wide scale and long lasting.
Additionally, Copper stolen from electrical substations, cell towers, telephone landlines, railways and construction sites can have serious ramifications for the general public.
Due to the growth in such crimes and shortage in supply, replacing stolen copper and cabling may become more difficult and you may face delays leading to worsened impact. Therefore, prevention is the best method of protection.
However, we always recommend a blended approach to security, and there are many other steps you can take in addition to utilising CCTV systems. They include:
Install Security Lighting
Typically, criminals prefer to operate under cover of darkness, so ensuring your site is well-lit can effectively deter thieves.
However, a school of thought suggests a well-lit site might attract criminals as they can see what valuables are on your site.
Therefore, we suggest installing motion-activated cameras so that your valuables can remain hidden, whilst helping startle any unwelcome intruders and deter crime by the light activation.
Learn more: Construction sites are one of the most common locations for metal theft. For further support, read our Ultimate Construction Site Safety and Security Toolkit, with many free-to-download guides on how to protect your construction sites from copper thieves and other criminals.
Install CCTV Cameras
CCTV cameras will act as a visual deterrent to thieves and capture high-quality video evidence to assist with police enquiries of any crime.
However, unmonitored CCTV systems that only record crimes provide a passive approach to security rather than a preventative one.
That's why all WCCTV cameras are backed by remote video monitoring services. This allows us to proactively intervene with any crimes in progress, track criminals, gather evidence and request a priority police dispatch to respond as the situation unfolds.
Rapid Deployment CCTV Towers can be deployed to any location, regardless of power or internet availability. They are fully portable, autonomously powered, take less than 20 minutes to install and transmit live and recorded video using mobile connectivity.
Our CCTV Towers feature multiple built-in and remote monitoring detectors that help detect, deter and defend against criminal activity. See for yourself just how effective our systems are:
Install Perimeter Fencing
Setting up solid perimeter fencing around your sites will deliver a dual security benefit.
Firstly, if you use covered fences, it will prevent criminals from seeing your sites and what valuable assets may be held within there and secondly it acts as a physical barrier that helps prevent opportunist thieves from accessing your sites with ease.
Making your sites harder to access tells thieves you are not an easy target, in aims of preventing crime from taking place.
However, perimeter fencing as a sole approach tends to exclude important security measures such as remote video monitoring, CCTV and recording capabilities. Therefore, we recommend this for a blended approach or to consider an option such as our CCTV Towers that have all those measures as well as the crime deterring fencing that fencing provides.
Place Warning Signs Around Your Site
Placing warning signs around your site can play a huge role in preventing copper theft.
Alerting thieves to the security measures you have in place (CCTV, guards, barbed wire, K9 response etc.) shows that you have hardened your site against theft.
Companies can also use warning signs to alert thieves to the dangers associated with copper theft, such as electrocution from stripping out copper wiring. Hopefully, if a criminal realises their health is at risk if they try to remove copper from your site, they may think twice.
Thieves appreciate easy opportunities and signage can be used to notify them that your site or business will not provide this to them.
Managed CCTV for Remote and Temporary Sites
Our best-in-class CCTV systems are backed by a fully managed service - including equipment installation, video monitoring, maintenance and ongoing technical support.
Our surveillance systems deliver multi-applications benefits, including security, time lapse video filming and remote project management/health and safety management.
We can deploy our cameras to any site regardless of power and internet availability or whether or not you have somewhere to mount the cameras. Our units all contain wireless transmission technology so that they can operate autonomously.
Ready to find out how Rapid Deployment CCTV can work for you? Get in touch today at 0800 470 4630 or request a call back
