GPS Tracking System Helps Police Catch Copper Thieves
This week police officers in Cassia County, Idaho, used a secretly placed GPS tracking system embedded in copper wire to catch two alleged copper thieves.
The local Magic Valley News said the sheriff’s office recently embedded copper wire with a GPS tracking system and then left it out in the open on private property.
Last night the GPS tracking system sent an alert to the sheriff’s office saying that the copper wire had been moved. Officers followed the directions provided by the GPS tracking system and located the suspects’ vehicle.
Sherrifs caught and arrested two suspects (a 38 year-old man and a 15 year-old boy), and charged them with alleged grand theft.
Stolen copper has become a big problem because selling stolen copper wire can be quite profitable. Thieves steal the copper and other metals from work sites and then sell it to scrap and recycling businesses.
Copper is so valuable, that unfortunately copper wire and pipe is being stolen from numerous job sites, forcing lots of contractors to strictly tighten security.
This is the second time the use of a GPS tracking system has led to multiple arrests in the last couple of years. Officer Randy Kidd said GPS tracking devices have been “effective in apprehending copper thieves in the county.”
As sheriff, Kidd said he will continue to deploy as many GPS tracking devices as the department can afford, because it “has proven to be the most effective tool combating and catching copper thieves who are operating in the county.”