Security solution?

[Negativecreep0]

I own a business in the city where there is a lot of theft, we get broken into every now and then it is a large Recycling Facility with a large outside area with metals. They steal the more expensive metals. What do you guys think might be some good security solution. We already have secuirty dogs and are installing a large storage container that is solid, we have a security camera also. Any other suggestions that you guys can think off the tops of your heads?

[Stingray]

If the dogs aren't doing the trick, upgrade to leopards.

-S

[ChadTower]

Yeah, few thing deter theft and trespass like the right dogs.

[Goz]

Electrifying the expensive metals off hours. Bad guys touch the metals or the container and they get a new hair doo 

[ChadTower]

What are we talking about, really, when we say expensive metals?  I mean, metal is big and heavy.  How exactly do you run off with a half ton of scrap metal?

[Stingray]

I'd guess copper, seems I remember hearing recently that it brings very good money on the scrap market.

-S

[ChadTower]

Still, copper is very heavy, and a scrap metal yard is very big.  Could it be placed on the interior of the yard, making it harder to get to without being noticed? 

I mean, sure, it gets better money than steel, but how much would have to be stolen to be worth a felony charge?  And how are they getting it away from the yard?

Things like this tend to be inside jobs.

[Stingray]

Yesterday I made a comment to the effect that I've been to places where even a crushed car would be stolen. I guess this is in one of those kinds of places. Some people will steal anything.

-S

[ChadTower]

Yeah, but think of this too.

Scrap metal has value but generally will only be bought by scrap metal dealers.

It would be easy to find someone fencing a specific amount of a specific scrap metal if one is familiar and friendly with the other local dealers.

[Jabba]

Electrifying the expensive metals off hours. Bad guys touch the metals or the container and they get a new hair doo

[Jabba]

When we were kids (teenagers), we used to hunt for copper and car batteries and sell it to the local scrap dealer. $5.00 for a battery and x cents per pound of copper.

Then we'd run like hell to the Arcade and blow it all on Defender and Playboy pinball machines. Oh, those were the days.

My guess is its kids stealing it.

[ChadTower]

Why would he be that upset about 25lb of copper?  How much could some kids on foot really steal?

[Jabba]

How is a truck getting into the site? I doubt its open and easy to drive into...

[ChadTower]

I am making the following assumptions:

Whoever it is is stealing a substantial amount, an amount that would make the guy worry about stopping them.

Stealing a substantial amount of scrap metal requires a truck and time to load the truck.

Using a truck and a good amount of time means that they have full access to the metal in some way.

They are easily able to circumvent the dogs.

[DrewKaree]

Yeah, few thing deter theft and trespass like the right dogs.

That's his problem right there.  He thought a few of these would be enough, and look where thinkin' got him!

[Sephroth57]

my dog is badass

[jhanson]

You should look into Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED).  Google it and read up on it.  It covers some interesting things you can do to make your business less of a target for crime.  For example, things like planting certain types of bushes near your fence (prickly ones or a nice bed of poison ivy/oak) can make climbing over your fence a much less pleasant experience.  Increasing the lighting inside and around your perimeter helps too.

Another thing, if the thefts are pretty high dollar, it might be worth getting a security guard, or even just have someone show up at a random time throughout the night once in a while.  That way it throws off the patterns.

[ChadTower]

my dog is badass

Your dog is something an ER nurse would find inside someone's anus.

[Ed_McCarron]

"nice bed of poison ivy/oak"

Would that help?  Takes me at least a day to develop a rash after being exposed to poision ivy.  By that time, the thief would be gone.  I can't identify the stuff positively when I'm clearing out my garden, let alone at night, wearing a skimask.



Theres the problem right there... If you look at the pic, the dog is stealing the metal.  It is a aluminum can recycleing place, right? 

[ChadTower]

Some people don't get rashes from poison ivy and stuff.  I can pull up poison ivy by the roots and not get a rash.  There is poison oak in the corner of my yard and I mow that all the time without a problem.

[Negativecreep0]

A Couple copper coils like this could weigh up to 300 lbs by them selves. At 1.30 a pound that is a lot of money to lose in a couple minutes worth of burglary. We do put the stuff away at night we just recently got large 40' storage containers maybe that will deter them for now.Also these thieves are mostly crack heads with nothing to lose they load up a supermarket shopping cart and roll it right away. Neighborhood is useless they dont tell you crap and cops well, they are cops........

[jhanson]

Some people don't get rashes from poison ivy and stuff.  I can pull up poison ivy by the roots and not get a rash.  There is poison oak in the corner of my yard and I mow that all the time without a problem.

Even if some people are immune, it helps with others.  If you said you could magically cause guard dogs to go to sleep at will, that doesn't make them a bad solution for the general populace.  Or if some people have bullet proof vests, that doesn't mean that guns are useless.

Poison ivy/oak doesn't help you the first time, but it deters repeat offenders.  The prickly bushes are better as they impede the first timers.

Plus, it's all about layered security.  You don't pick just one defense.  You pick several that complement each other, and make up for each other's deficiencies.

[Zakk]

Some people don't get rashes from poison ivy and stuff.

[USSEnterprise]

What about a few motion detectors and a really loud siren?

[DrewKaree]

Get 4 or 5 dogs that are large enough that they'd consider Seph's dog "kibble".

It seems highly unlikely to me that crack heads are rolling up with shopping carts, avoiding or "disarming" the dogs, hoisting 300 lb rolls of ANYTHING into their shopping cart and strolling on down the street to cash the stuff in the next day for their score.  Even blind cops couldn't miss that.

[Negativecreep0]

you'ld be surprised we have caught 2 already on camera and all some funny stuff to watch them work. Maybe i will make a mpg of it heh.

[Stingray]

Some people don't get rashes from poison ivy and stuff.  I can pull up poison ivy by the roots and not get a rash.  There is poison oak in the corner of my yard and I mow that all the time without a problem.  Yeah, yeah, cuz I'm from the planet Krypton!  Yeah, that's the ticket!

In Chad's defense, I don't get a reacton to poison ivy either. I cut it down with the weedeater all summer with no problems.

I still like the poison ivy idea. Even if they steal stuff, you at least have the joy of knowing that you caused them some serious discomfort. The question reamains though, how do you plant poison ivy without getting it yourself?

-S

[Zakk]

How about poison oak?  Man, I wish I was immune to things like that.  Hell, mosquito bites bother me for weeks, and hornet stings send me into a coma. 
(I once wandered into a nest of wasps and got like 100 stings, and for some reason it destroyed any immunity to bee venom I had.  Dang!)

Damn you, you superbeings.

[Stingray]

How about poison oak?

Don't know. I'm not even sure what that looks like. I don't think we have any in my area. I do know that poison sumac doesn't bother me, I have some of that on my property, but there's a lot more poison ivy.

-S

[USSEnterprise]

How about poison oak?  Man, I wish I was immune to things like that.

Wandering Bear, the one who cured her vagina, was immune

[DYNAGOD]

i work in a machine and welding shot and i sometimes find myself doing quoting/ purchasing and i can tell you scrap metal is indeed a precious commodity.
the cost of steel and other metals is thru the roof!
we get all our steel form overseas now, we closed all our own steel mills. so now much like oil, we have the exact same problem.
the cost of many materials has tripled in just the last 18 months