A truck pulls up outside a home for sale in a residential area. A workman goes in, spends the day banging around inside, and leaves with his truck filled with copper pipes. It doesn’t look like a burglary, and none of the neighbors suspect anything’s amiss. Unless… the home security system goes off. Then the scene changes: the police arrive, and the workman is arrested for unlawful entry, destroying property, and stealing copper wiring and plumbing.
For the past couple of years, gangs of burglars throughout the United States and Europe have been consistently targeting vacant or deserted properties in order to rip out the plumbing and wiring, which is usually made of copper. And though it might not spring to mind immediately when you think of burglaries, copper fetches quite a bit of money. According to a University of Indianapolis study, the value of metal stolen from residences reaches an average of $4,314.
However, property owners who become victims of this type of burglary face even more costs, as the burglars blatantly knock down walls, rip out floors, and basically destroy anything they have to in order to get the copper out as quickly as possible.
It’s clear that if you own property that’s vacant for any length of time, you’re at risk. That’s why it’s so important to keep a sound home security system installed in a home you’re not occupying. For instance, if your home is for sale, or if you’re looking to rent it out, it’s a target for copper thieves. If you own more than one property and have a number of them on the market, it’s easy enough for burglars to find the listings and map out where each property is. If the homes aren’t protected by activated home security systems with direct response teams, chances are, copper thieves will get in and out long before you ever notice anything’s wrong. If you put a property up for rent or for sale, make sure it’s adequately secured.
Signing a contract with a home security company with a direct response team is simply a smart investment. You should also make sure to visit any vacant properties you own at least twice a week to make sure the home security system is still working properly, and that nothing has been tampered with or damaged. If you can’t make it to your property yourself, ask a trusted friend or your realtor to do the rounds for you.
