While Baltimore City Public Schools were closed early this week due to snow, police were at a Northeast Baltimore school investigating an apparent copper heist as HVAC contractors made repairs.

Despite the suspected theft at Yorkwood Elementary School, the building in the Loch Raven neighborhood will reopen for students along with all other city schools on Wednesday, city schools spokesperson Sherry Christian said.

Christian confirmed Tuesday that school police were investigating a theft they believe happened Sunday night at the elementary school and that operations crews were addressing damage to the property. The break-in was first reported by FOX45, which obtained dispatch audio where Baltimore City School Police officers are heard saying that “a lot of copper” was taken, estimating the loss at $80,000.

Christian could not confirm what was stolen or the value of the loss.

Why copper?

Copper, commonly used in industrial applications and can easily be sold at scrap yards for roughly 90% of its worth, has long been a valuable target for theft. After a pandemic jump in copper prices, experts say that thefts are resurging.

Compared to other base metals, such as aluminum, lead nickel and zinc, copper “is going to be the most valuable per pound than anything else,” said Ben Stickle, a criminal justice professor at Middle Tennessee State University who studies metal theft.

“Copper is going to get them more bang for their effort, if you will,” said Stickle, who interviewed scrappers and metal thieves for his 2017 book on the underground market for scrap.

Copper is denser than other metals, making it weigh more “so you can get more money out of it with less effort,” he said.

The price of copper sharply jumped at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and remains above $4 per pound, making theft for scrap metal all the more enticing.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau keeps track of metal theft claims, but hasn’t followed copper closely in recent years due to a shift in focus to thefts of catalytic converters, which became a more prevalent theft target over the past decade, spokesperson Nicholas Zeitlinger said. Increased demand for precious metals like platinum and palladium has driven the rise of thefts targeting those automotive parts.

“We tend to see the explanation of ‘follow the money’ ringing true,” said Zeitlinger. “Criminals and criminal rings are going to engage in illicit activities that are both accessible and line their pockets.”

The NICB last reviewed thousands of insurance claims for thefts of base metals, including copper, in 2017 and 2018 and found that more than 95% were for copper theft. Though thefts had decreased across the board, Maryland remained in the top five states for metal theft claims — and the Baltimore region had the fourth-highest rate out of metropolitan areas across the U.S.

What’s a target?

Older air conditioning units are a popular target for metal thieves, though copper found in other industrial applications — such as pipes and electrical wiring — works just as well, Stickle said.

“If it was a school, I’d say it’s a good chance that they went after the air conditioner,” possibly by gutting the system for any components made of high-value metals, said Stickle.

Metal thefts are notable for the ripple effects of damage they can cause. Ripping copper from a school air conditioning unit means it’ll have to be replaced, and the school may have to close for a day. New cement often has to be poured when copper pipes are taken from a building’s foundation. And thefts of copper wiring have been to blame for local power outages.

“The labor and the cost of the damage done is usually significantly higher than the actual value” of the metal, said Stickle.

In 2010, Maryland lawmakers passed a legislative overhaul of recordkeeping requirements for junk dealers and scrap metal processors, who are required to furnish lists of the people they acquire scrap from to police. But Stickle said that recordkeeping requirements for scrappers don’t do much to curtail metal theft — it’s simply too difficult to keep track of scrap.

“Solutions are really hard,” said Stickle, who recommends fortifying physical security measures around high-value targets for metal theft and for states to adopt criminal statutes separating metal theft from other thefts.

A Baltimore Police spokesperson could not provide data on copper thefts, noting that those numbers “would fall under larceny or burglary.”

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