Michigan metal theft bill hung up despite leaders’ push

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LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Five years after Michigan targeted
copper thefts plaguing cities like Detroit and disrupting railroads and
utilities, plans to better restrict sales of stolen scrap metal are
caught in a legislative fight despite agreement among political leaders
and law enforcement that action is needed.
The legislation would
tighten rules in what can be a lucrative scrap metal market, giving
police and prosecutors more tools to bolster cases against thieves.
Scrapyards
would have to take photos or video of metal they buy. Sellers could
only be paid by check or money order, or they could redeem their money
at an onsite ATM that takes photos of them getting the cash.
Knowingly
selling or buying street light poles, guardrails, traffic signs,
cemetery plaques and railroad equipment generally would be off limits,
too.
But it’s one provision — to make people wait three days for
payment for copper wire, air conditioners and catalytic converters —
that’s angering scrap buyers and dividing lawmakers.
The House
last year voted 98-9 for a bill with the three-day waiting period. The
Senate approved the measure 38-0 but said delayed payment would be
unnecessary if the scrap/recycling industry instead created a real-time
database of each purchase of pertinent items.
With neither side
budging in the new year, one potential compromise being floated would
nix the three-day waiting period if payments are mailed.
"It’s
great for our law enforcement to have an address. No criminal wants to
sign the back of a check and go cash it. That’s gold for our prosecutors
to go in front of a judge with a signed check," said Rep. Rashida
Tlaib, D-Detroit, who twice has had catalytic converters stolen from her
own vehicle.
Tlaib said she opposes talk of setting a $75
threshold, though, under which sellers could still get money on the spot
and not have to wait for the mail.
"A criminal’s going to go
somewhere, make sure the load is less than $75 and go to the next
scrapyard that’s less than a mile away and do the same thing. It’s not a
fix," she said.
In Michigan, especially Detroit, thieves are
targeting abandoned dwellings, construction sites and even occupied
premises to strip copper wiring, plumbing, window air conditioners and
the like.
The state had the ninth-highest number of insurance
claims for metal theft in the U.S. in recent years, according to the
National Insurance Crime Bureau. Metropolitan Detroit ranked fifth-worst
among urban areas.
Current laws subject people who knowingly buy
or sell stolen scrap metal to felony penalties. Despite legal
requirements that dealers maintain records and sellers show a driver’s
license, law enforcement says successfully prosecuting cases remains
difficult.
In arguing against the three-day waiting period,
industry officials say it would punish law-abiding customers and burden
honest businesses with mailing and administrative costs. They say police
already have tools at their disposal to investigate metal theft such as
sellers’ names, copies of their IDs, thumbprints and license plates.
"You’re
taking all these honest, normal people and telling them I can’t pay you
for three days," said Jonathan Raven, a lobbyist for Lansing-based
Friedland Industries Inc.
The law up for revision already includes
a requirement that buyers hold onto certain items for seven days, which
he said should give police departments enough time to follow leads.
"Since the law passed in 2008, it’s been almost impossible to get law enforcement to come out and
look at anything," Raven said.
While
Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration and others have spent more than 2½
years working on the legislation, it’s been in the spotlight of late
because both the governor and new Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan called for
action in their recent annual addresses to residents.
Duggan wants
the House, where the bill is pending, to "hang firm" and said recently
it’s not so much the three-day waiting period that’s most important, but
mailing payments.
"To be able to have a clear paper trail to the seller is really the most critical piece," he
said.
Though
the legislation is attracting attention in Detroit, it’s sponsored by a
Republican from the Thumb region who heard of a man stealing cable from
local wind turbines.
Rep. Paul Muxlow of Brown City said he understands scrap dealers don’t want more government mandates.
"There’s
some very good scrap operators, but all of them aren’t. We think there
are some quite complicit in this whole deal," he said.
House
leaders are hopeful a compromise is within reach this month while noting
concerns over ironing out how to regulate smaller $5 and $10
transactions.
Sen. Virgil Smith, who’s pushing a related bill to
ease prosecutors’ evidentiary path in scrap metal cases, said the debate
over payments has "taken over" when the focus also should be on
funding.
"We thought it was going to work in 2008 and it didn’t
work," he said. "A law’s only as good as its enforcement. We’ve got to
put real money behind law enforcement."
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Online:
House Bill 4593: http://1.usa.gov/1f6d65n
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Follow David Eggert at http://twitter.com/DavidEggert00
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