CHICAGO — The jig may soon be up for Chicago thieves who cash in on skyrocketing metal prices by stealing everything from gutters, aluminum siding and copper wiring to manhole covers and catalytic converters.
Like pawn shop owners, scrap dealers would be required to keep detailed records of the metal items they purchase -- along with copies of sellers' photo IDs, under a crackdown advanced Monday by the City Council's Environmental Protection Committee.
Stop signs, fire hydrant parts and manhole covers would be strictly prohibited without documentation that the city has ordered those materials recycled.
The Illinois General Assembly has already approved a crackdown that applies to materials made of copper, brass and aluminum.
The city version championed by Ald. Danny Solis (25th) applies to all metals. It also arms city inspectors and Chicago Police officers with the information they need to keep close watch on 123 licensed recycling facilities and track down thieves making a killing on the growing black market for metal items.
Fines would range from $250 to $1,000, down from a $1,000 to $10,000 range in the original version.
"We've heard of incidents . . . where somebody goes away for a day, and the aluminum siding from their home is gone. Catalytic converters have been stolen out of automobiles," Solis said.
Chicago Police Sergeant Brian Rybka said the victims of metal theft are not just homeowners and car owners. They're entire neighborhoods.
"I personally have seen thieves cut down power lines, telephone lines," he said.
Currently, the city's 123 licensed recycling centers maintain "minimal records" of transactions and many of them keep "almost no records," officials said.
General Iron is the exception to the rule. The company that recycles 600,000 tons of metal each year has installed a $200,000 surveillance system that features nine cameras in a 20-by-20-foot area.
The company has also assigned each customer a vendor number -- complete with name, address, gender, eye color, date of birth and either photo ID or digital photo.
"If we get a phone call that aluminum siding was stolen, we can go back from that day to present and look at all of the aluminum siding loads" said company owner Adam Labkon.
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