A data centre construction site in the Culpeper, Virginia, area reportedly lost more than $200,000 in copper piping, then got hit twice more in a month, according to WTOP.
The sheriff says the same two people came back three times. The first hit, overnight Sept. 22 to 23, started with a cut padlock on the front gate. The second, Oct. 18 to 19, went through the east perimeter fence. The third, Oct. 21 to 22, went through what investigators believe is the same cut in that fence. No arrests have been reported.
That is strong investigative work. Matching the clothing across two visits, tracking the entry point and asking who has been offered copper at a suspiciously low price is how a sheriff builds a case.
But from the site owner’s perspective, the hard lesson is obvious:
Who is paying attention to security and how do they still have a job???? A simple Google search “Verified Commercial Security” would get you to a Sonitrol Consultant and no more break-ins or a criminal apprehension.
The copper is gone.
The tools are gone.
And the sheriff says the crew knows how to get in and out.
One theft is a loss. Three is a plan.
Three successful break-ins in a month. Give me a break… seriously who is responsible for researching Verified Security.
The sheriff called these hits anything but random, and he is right. The first visit is a theft. The second is a crew that likes the site. The third is a crew running a route.
Look at what stood in their way. A padlock on the gate. A perimeter fence. Padlocks on the storage areas. Every barrier in this report was cut, and cutting is all it took.
The sheriff’s release says nothing about an alarm sounding. It talks about cut padlocks, a cut fence and cameras. A padlock is a delay. A fence is a delay. Neither one calls anybody.
By the third visit, newly installed cameras were recording. The crew reportedly came through the same cut in the fence. Whether that opening was still there or was simply easy to cut again, the message to the perps was the same: nothing has changed and the business clearly does not care…. Dumb, dumb, dumb and lazy…. I can hear it now… “It is a cost of doing business”…. No it is not!
Why a conventional alarm misses a fence line
Door contacts do not protect a laydown yard.
Indoor motion sensors do not protect a fence.
Virtually every other alarm system is built to report entry. A cut padlock is not entry. A cut fence is not entry. By the time a conventional, unverified system says anything, the truck is already loaded.
And an unverified alarm never gets Priority ONE police dispatch. A thief who has worked a site knows that.
Recorded CCTV again. Anyone know who these two are?
That is exactly the question the sheriff’s office is asking the public today. Cameras that record a crew give you a video. Recorded CCTV does not give you an apprehension.
What the copper really costs
The sheriff values the copper from the first night at more than $200,000. The release puts no number on the power tools, the schedule or the paperwork. Those bills arrive anyway.
Here is what that kind of loss costs a project beyond the number in the headline:
- fence repairs;
- purchase of useless, recorded CCTV;
- replacement copper and the lead time to get it;
- stolen tools and the labour waiting on them;
- schedule slippage;
- the deductible and the claim itself;
- the premium at the next renewal;
- management time spent on police reports and re-ordering;
The question is not what security costs. It is what inadequate security costs.
What verified perimeter detection changes
Sonitrol’s Sonavision Monitored Cameras put verification on the fence line, not only on the storage doors. The cut is detected. An operator sees what is happening, live, and tells police exactly that: two masked men, a cut fence, the storage area, right now. A verified alarm gets Priority ONE. The step-by-step version of how verified security stops repeat copper theft at construction sites is on our Knowledge Base.
One version of this story ends with a tip line and a request for help identifying two masked men. The other ends with officers arriving while the crew is still at the fence.
The first produces a news release. The second produces a criminal apprehension and incarceration.
This is not theory. A thief crawled into a Coquitlam warehouse at 1:31 a.m. Police were dispatched at 1:32. The perpetrator was in custody at 2:13. Read what happened at that Sonitrol-protected site in Coquitlam.
Then there is deterrence. Every apprehension puts another criminal in the penitentiary, and that is where the Criminal Masters Course meets. The lesson is simple: stay away from Sonitrol. Break into a Sonitrol site and you will get caught. Break into a site protected by any other conventional alarm company and you will never get caught.
That is what you are buying: deterrence. No cut padlock to replace. No fence to repair. No stolen copper. No insurance claim, and no increase in your premium.
What site owners should do now
- walk the full fence line and look for any cut, patch or gap;
- check every padlock on copper, tool and equipment storage;
- put detection on the perimeter, not only on the storage doors;
- ask who verifies an alert at 1 a.m., and what that person tells police;
- ask what happens in the first minute after a fence is cut;
Do it right the first time, or pay for it three times over. Contact a Sonitrol Consultant… get Sonavision Monitored Cameras and there will be no more break-ins or one more with an apprehension … it really is that simple!
The takeaway
A thief going after copper is not surprising. Copper is money, and everyone from the crew to the buyer knows it.
What should surprise you is protecting valuable material with security that has already been beaten.
Would anyone know tonight if the fence on your site was cut?
Start at the fence line.
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