Copper Theft Prevention

Copper products are being stolen at an alarming rate from telecommunications sites throughout the country.

Thieves are taking products like ground bars, walking into their neighborhood metal recycler and walking out with cash. We’ve listed some current theft prevention solutions being used by today and some new products aimed at slowing and discouraging this illegal activity.

Free Copper and Generators!

'Free Copper and Generators' is the imaginary sign that criminals see when they drive by one of your tower sites, whether in a remote location or a crowded neighborhood

by Greg Weger

Image courtesy of AGL

With the amount of work that constantly goes on at tower sites around the country, thieves can drive up to your site, even in broad daylight, and to casual observers they maybe resemble the crews that regularly work at your site. Unnoticed because they are unremarkable, they help themselves to your copper, generators and anything else they want and simply drive off. Neighbors and passersby most likely won’t notice whether the “crew” is adding cable, repairing cable, or stealing cable. Worse, in some cases the neighbors don’t care since they aren’t too happy to have your tower in their view anyway.

Vandalism and theft at communication site, particularly those in remote areas, is on the rise, driven by the ever rising price of copper and easy target most tower sites represent. Tower sites are full of copper. They have copper ground wires, copper buss bars and lot of transmission lines and other cable that are full of copper that can be, in most cases, easily stolen and sold quickly for cash to willing buyers. And the 100 percent...
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Tier 1 Carriers Respond to Rising Theft

Facing the prospect of being unable to secure copper bars on cell sites, several Tier 1 Carriers have begun specifying Galvanized Steel Bars as a way to keep some level of protection.

Galvanized Steel Bars simply are not an attractive target for thieves. While copper is still the best solution for conductivity, having a Galvanized Steel Bar at the site significantly reduces the likelihood that your site will be left unprotected.

How to Prevent Copper Theft: Current Solutions Used by TESSCO Customers

Tinned Ground Bars

Several customers have indicated that by doing something as simple as switching to tinned ground bars they have seen a reduction in thefts. Tinned bars do not look like copper, so to the untrained eye they appear to be less valuable. Additionally, a recycler will need to process the tinned ground bars differently than a regular copper bar which reduces their scrap value. Wireless Solutions offers tinned ground bars in all standard sizes.

Sizes

Attachment hardware is purchased separately.

Tamper Resistant Shelter Ground Bar Hardware

Although nothing will prevent a determined criminal from removing even the most secure product, making things harder to remove will decrease the likelihood that they will get stolen and increase their chances of getting caught in the act. Wireless Solutions Tamper Resistant Shelter Ground Bar Hardware features low-profile rounded head bolts that cannot be twisted with a wrench. The only way to attach or remove is with the included security torx driver. Once they are fastened, an extra degree of security can be added by filling the hole with epoxy-putty.

Motion Sensitive Remote Surveillance

Whether safeguarding equipment or offering monitoring as a service to companies located on a site, TESSCO offers an effective, affordable and easy to use remote surveillance kit. It serves as a key component to deter and document the unrelenting copper and raw material theft taking place at cell tower sites across the country.

The presence of cameras serves as a deterrent to theft and vandalism while remote surveillance records criminals and gives technicians and managers the ability to identify missing grounding equipment immediately, before further loss is suffered. The dome enclosures boast vandal proof construction, and are water resistant and weatherproof.

Included remote management software allows for simultaneous recording, live view and play back. Recording priorities are dynamically programmable, as is scheduling and motion detection and event alarms settings. The system can actually “prerecord” up to 30 seconds prior to a motion-triggered event.

New Products Developed to Deter Theft

Eliminate Copper Ground Bar Theft With Ultraweld Spider Mold

The fool proof way of eliminating ground bars from being stolen is to just eliminate the ground bar altogether. The new, revolutionary Spider Mold from Harger allows you to take 3 or 6 pieces of #6 wire and exothermically attach them to the top of a #2 wire. If you are making this connection close to an ice bridge post or a tower leg that is grounded, you can attach the #2 wire lead directly to the post or leg, reducing further the amount of copper on your site.

Make Your Copper Harder to Steal and Less Valuable to Thieves

The new Ground Bar Lock Box from Wireless Solutions is designed to slow down or discourage theft from communications sites. Built from 16-guage, galvanized steel, it features reinforced stainless steel rivets that and are designed to be drill resistant. The built-in combination lock can be set in the field with the code of your choice. Several customers have reported that installing this inexpensive box halted thefts at troublesome sites.

Wireless Solutions Theft Deterrent Ground Bars feature a universal hole pattern and have the words “STOLEN DO NOT RECYCLE” stamped into the face of the bar. They are formed from from 1/4" tinned copper and are being offered in 4" x 12" and 4" x 20" sizes. Because the bar is tin plated, a would-be recycler would have to process the copper in a smelter to separate the tin from the copper, giving it a lower scrap value than plain copper. Custom solutions are also available. See your TESSCO representative for more information.

For more information contact TESSCO
at 800-472-7373 or e-mail us today.