Smile, You’re on Scrapper Camera

COURT HOUSE — Thieves hoping to sell their scrap metal and make an anonymous quick buck best beware. A local recycling center is not only going to ask for your photo identification but is going to have you on camera from the time you pull into the parking lot until the time you leave.
“We have all kinds of cameras here,” said Charles Raff, owner of Raff’s Recycling. “We have it when you come in the gate, we know your license plate, we know your vehicle. When you get on the scale, we really get a close up picture of you driving the vehicle and anyone else in the vehicle.”
Once inside the office, “you cannot get paid unless you have a photo I.D,” said Raff. “My security is unbelievable,” he said. “Nobody comes in, nobody gets paid without a picture I.D. I know what they brought in, what time, what vehicle.”
While cameras and photo identification may solve some of the problems of metal theft, good old-fashioned honesty is also a factor. When a person comes in to sell scrap metal, there is no way to determine if the metal has been stolen or not.
“We base everything on honesty,” said Raff. “But you can’t tell. We can’t say to the person ‘Is this is hot?’ He’s not going to tell you the truth anyway.”
Raff shared a recent example of manhole covers being brought in and sold for scrap.
“That was happening with the manhole covers,” said Raff. “Everyone was taking manhole covers from these new developments. Well, that stopped, too. Unless it is a commercial vehicle and a commercial guy in business, we don’t accept them.”
The theft of scrap metal has become almost epidemic. Many summer homes are being stripped of outside air conditioning units. Copper wire is being cut from utility poles. Even an outdoor wheelchair lift was stolen as it awaited installation outside a home.
With the going rate of $3 per pound copper, metal scrapping has turned lucrative. According to Raff, a year ago, copper was being bought at half that amount.
In a bad economy with high unemployment, many take to scrapping as a way of making money.
“They’re hungry,” said Raff. “They’re not working. We never used to have this kind of theft when everyone was working. When there is nobody working and you don’t have a job and you have a mortgage to pay and a family to feed, you’re going to do what you have to do. Rather than do a job, they steal.”
Unknowingly buying stolen goods is a problem for recyclers. According to Raff if scrap is purchased from a seller and later found to be stolen, if the owner wants the item back, Raff must return the goods to the owner, thereby taking a loss for the money he paid to the thief as well as taking the loss of returning the item.
“I can take him (the thief) to civil court,” said Raff, “But what good is taking him to civil court? He doesn’t have a dime on him anyway.”
Even with the high tech cameras and photo identification system in place, what hinders the return of most goods to their owners is time.
With only so much space to store items, the turn-around-time for recycling can range anywhere from a half hour to a week or more, according to what is being loaded.
With an eight-foot fence surrounding the three-and-a-half acre facility, the daily take of metals, plastic and cardboard grow to enormous piles that peek over the top of the stockade fencing, making long-term storage of scrap virtually impossible.
Time is of the essence when it comes to reporting the theft of metal.
“As soon as you see it,” said Raff, “Call. If you give them people enough time, you’ll never find it. There’s no dealer around here who can stockpile this stuff. You can’t do it.”
At a recent Township Committee meeting, Chief of Police Chris Leusner said, “It’s just tough, because that stuff is coming in and out quickly. It is being cut up and taken out immediately. If we get a report two or three days later, we’re probably past the point of making an arrest.”
The recycling business has sat on Goshen Road for decades. At a township meeting, a resident suggested registration for recycling yards.
Raff disagrees.
“I’ve been here for 65 years,” said Raff. “You know who I am.”
The business employs approximately 20 employees and conducts anywhere from 120 – 125 transactions per day.
“If the economy gets better and the market goes down, you’ll see less thievery,” said Raff when asked about the future. “As long the market is up where it’s at and people are not working, the economy is really not good, you’re going to see thievery.”