The National Insurance Crime Bureau (“NICB”) is reporting more evidence of pervasive metal theft—overwhelmingly copper—affecting communities across the nation. Its new report reviews metal theft claims from January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2012, during which time 33,775 insurance claims for the theft of copper, bronze, brass, or aluminum were handled—32,568 of them (96 percent) for copper alone. This shows a 36 percent increase in claims when compared with the 25,083 claims reported between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2011.
When the number of metal theft claims per month and monthly average copper prices were compared, the number of claims filed had a statistically significant correlation with the price of copper, according to the NICB.
The NICB said that so far in 2013, there have been reports of copper thefts at numerous locations coast to coast including one from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport that disabled the approach lighting for one of the runways.
The NICB report ranked Ohio first of all the states generating 3,228 metal theft claims. It was followed by Texas (2,624); Georgia (1,953); California (1,888); and North Carolina (1,682).
The top-five Core Based Statistical Areas generating the most metal theft claims were New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ (1,275); Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL (1,154); Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA (1,019); Dallas-Ft. Worth-Arlington, TX (849); and Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE (786).
The report dealt primarily with submitted insurance claims, but it observed that, depending on the circumstances of a theft, incidents may not generate an insurance claim or even a police report.
As the NICB pointed out, state bills addressing metal theft are pending in Arizona, California, Michigan, Minnesota, and Washington, among other states, while at the federal level, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced this past February the “Metal Theft Prevention Act of 2013.”
The full report can be viewed and downloaded here.
Victoria Spears
Victoria Prussen Spears is senior vice president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Brooklyn Law School, Ms. Spears was an attorney at a leading New York City law firm before joining Meyerowitz Communications. She may be contacted at [email protected].