Thieves Target A/C Units for Pricey Copper

By Mike Wanstreet
Solucient Security Systems

The increasing price of copper has air conditioning units a prime target of burglars. According to news reports across the nation, thieves have made an all-out assault on AC units, either taking entire window-box units or stripping the copper from stationary units. Many unsuspecting owners don’t realize they’ve been hit until they go for the thermostat and realize that the cool air is a no-go. That’s bad news with summer quickly approaching and A/C demand at a maximum.

Police say both residential and commercial buildings are vulnerable to thieves, who generally remove the copper wire and sell it to scrap-metal dealers. Flint-area businesses are losing millions of dollars to copper thieves, calling the copper crime wave an outright epidemic. Headlines involving A/C theft is a daily occurrence in Genesee County, citing the theft of everything from toaster-sized units, to 25-ton capacity refrigeration evaporators.

Some of the theft is surgical in nature, with thieves carefully removing tiny bits of wire from the units to sell to scrap dealers. Others steal entire A/C units, like the one taken from New Jerusalem Baptist Church in Flint. Its replacement cost was more than $1 million, while the copper inside a single room unit is valued at approximately $100. 

According to The New York Times, near-record prices for copper have spurred the theft of A/C units. The value of precious metals and raw materials has increased drastically since 2003. This steady increase has also fueled the secondhand scrap marketing, inciting demand. The thefts have proved difficult to stop for over-taxed police and have been a costly nuisance to public utilities — forced to spend millions of dollars on repairs and security.

In addition to copper’s black-market price at $4.00 per pound, A/C units prove to be easy targets for common thieves. Copper can be sold to scrap yards for cash without being traced to a specific source.  Police suspect criminals have grown smarter, using new technology to ease the process of stripping the copper wire.

Security professionals offer several tips to help A/C owners protect themselves and avoid being victims of copper theft:

• Record the serial and model numbers of your air conditioner. If the unit is stolen and resold whole, police may be able to track the product through those numbers.
• If a building is vacant, remove the unit until it is occupied.
• Install steel security bars around crawl spaces to prevent easy access under the building.
• Install motion-sensor lights outside the property at the location of the air conditioner.
• Install a locked privacy fence around the perimeter.
• Go with a local security provider who will wire the A/C units so that if the A/C unit or electrical power is cut or tampered with, an alarm signal is transmitted to a central monitoring station that can immediately dispatch police.
• Using the latest in high tech security, install a motion sensor equipped with a hidden digital camera to capture verified video images of the theft or tampering, which are sent to a central monitoring station that can immediately dispatch law enforcement to a crime in progress.
• Remember to always use local and trusted providers for security services and HVAC systems.

No matter what preventative actions you take for your property, being aware is the first step in your plan of action to protect your business and its assets.

Solucient Security Systems is one of the largest privately-owned security companies in Michigan. With its own Michigan-based alarm monitoring facility, Solucient has been servicing commercial and residential security customers for over 70 years. Formerly known as Stanley Alarm Systems, Solucient is one of the leading voices in the security industry. Contact Solucient at 1.855.201.1500 or visit http://solucientsecurity.com/