OT- They're at it again.

[Mike D.]

The GD wire thieves hit us twice last night They got one pump that was recently repaired and this time the wires were cut so close to the motor that it had to go in for new lead wires. These bastards are destructive!! My FIL is fit to commit murder on the ****. He wants us to wire in a siren or something to deter the copper thieves. Now, we have two main pumps out of commission when irrigation is critical. If I had it my way there would be a setup to burn their hands off, but you can't harm the poor guys, they have rights. This is fast gettin' out of hand.

[kimwcook]

Mike, we've had so many irrigation circles here stripped more than once you'd think it was the thing to do. We've put a dent in the main guys, but it happens every week. Farmers have their hands running around keeping watch. It's only a matter of time before someone gets killed and you know it won't be the bad guys.

[olyinaz]

Faulty wire electrifying the housing? "Terrible. Terrible shame what happened."

Oly

[piller]

May the wire thieves starve for lack of food because they have stopped the growth of it.

[RIHMFIRE]

How about putting a chain link cage around the pump with some razor wire.....

[Pitchy]

They need to pass laws saying ya can protect your life and property with deadly force, doesn`t TX have that law.
Anyway sorry for your problem and hope it gets resolved.

[Pitchy]

Hope ya resolve the problem, would be irritating.

[Mike D.]

We are seriously looking into spending $1200 per pump to have video cameras placed on the associated power poles by a very reputable alarm co. Any movement will be documented and immediately relayed to the business and the SO. Hopefully, the occasional trespassing fisherman will not make the plan a bust. I suggested filling the conduits with sealing cement like used on explosion proof systems. The expense of cyclone fencing to surround eleven pumps has been suggested but the cost would be prohibitive and too easily compromised. Something has to be done, but getting everyone in the family to agree is proving to be problematic.

[Bronco]

Howdy Mike,

Live in central Kaliphornee! Always looking for a new spot to hunt vermits. Let me know if you need any help with them there critters. .

Really, sorry for the problem! Got some other friends that have the same midnight pilferiing woes!

John

[Blaine]

A super loud klaxon of some sort, and hook-up?

[Lastmohecken]

I share your agravation. I havn't lost any wire, but we believe we have been losing baby calves, as some have come up missing, with no signs of coyote kills, wild dogs, or disease, no bones, blood, nothing, and the cow is still here. Baby calves are high, at the sale barn, just like copper wire at the salvage place.

[KirkD]

The local police use some sort of sonic blasters on demonstrators. The noise is apparently unbearable. Can you rig up some sort of proximity switch that turns on a some sort of ear piercing alarm?

[JohndeFresno]

The GD wire thieves hit us twice last night They got one pump that was recently repaired and this time the wires were cut so close to the motor that it had to go in for new lead wires. These bastards are destructive!! My FIL is fit to commit murder on the ****. He wants us to wire in a siren or something to deter the copper thieves. Now, we have two main pumps out of commission when irrigation is critical. If I had it my way there would be a setup to burn their hands off, but you can't harm the poor guys, they have rights. This is fast gettin' out of hand.

Mike,

I know that people have varying results with their local law enforcement authorities, but I hope that you and your fellow victimized neighbors are making reports to the Sheriff's Department. And as I recall, you allow some LE types to shoot on your properties; it should be pretty easy to get their attention.

About three decades ago (during another economic slump), copper wire thieves hit Central California with a vengeance. A group of farmers got together, made their reports, contacted Pacific Gas & Electric Company and the press and a TV station or two. And they called upon their local Sheriffs. Many field deputies were given some instruction by a PG&E Special Agent and the Farm Bureau on how to spot and help to prevent wire thieves. A task force was put together. Pin maps were made.

Things that would seem obvious on hindsight were nevertheless overlooked, prior to this training. Examples: Smoking tires found in outlying county areas, previously ignored as trash burn sites by patrolling deputies, where the stripped wire was burned away from its insulation, and the fact that there was a pattern as to how the thieves struck. Of course, this pattern was made known by the eyes in the field, reporting back to HQ.


Eventually, a couple of teams (or was it three?) were caught in the act, through surveillance in the pattern areas, tire track evidence and other signs coupled with low riding (laden) vehicles in the area, and so on. It might not have happened without public pressure and awareness of the local officers. The wire thefts pretty much stopped for several years, as the thieves were tried and sent to prison. It is a felony, ya know, to steal more than $400 worth of anything, another felony to be caught in possession of stolen stuff, another felony to engage in a conspiracy to commit a crime, another felony to interfere with electrical transmission wires - at least in this state.

If I were hit with this problem, I'd high tail it to the SO and make my reports, and go through the steps above. Those news hounds (and I am not a lover of most media types) love a good story to peddle their papers and airwaves: The honest, hardworking local farmers, already fighting economic battles, now being deprived of his ability to irrigate his crops. You know, the media loves to dramatize the plight of the Underdog of The Week. Then, photographs in the field of now-dormant pumps. Good stuff. It sure puts pressure on the LE types, if you can get some air time or print exposure.

[Modoc ED]

They were having that problem over in the Fall River Mills area Mike and fixed it by staking out the ranches at night where the problems were. It took just over 3-weeks but they finaly caught a couple of the culprits. Once the word got out that they had lookouts stationed on various ranches/farms the problem disappeared.

[adirondakjack]

Would game cameras be of any help? Won't stop the theft, but a concealed cam might help ID the punks.

The worst part is, the scrap dealers KNOW they are buying from thieves, but turn a blind eye for the money.....

Here we had city employees steal about 20 tons of cast iron grates around trees planted in sidewalks, and use a city truck to take em to the scrap yard, several loads, and nobody batted an eye until somebody noticed they were gone..... Then all of a sudden the scrap yard folks had some vague memory.....

[Alan Wood]

Mike,
I have numerous contacts in the law enforcment comunity. If you get some photos of the perps or for that matter report the situation I may be able to arrange some assistance. Not sure about that but in your'e general area.... well more than a few jails have my cell phone number! Fingerprints might be good enough if you report the matter... Don't know about that however.

[Mokwaw]

They hit one of the local farmers here the other night. Stripped three of his irrigation units of copper. Says repairs will run $13,000 each.

[Griff]

Yes, TX has such a law... but you better not test its applicability if you live in certain jurisdictions. Ours happens to be one that you'd probably be ok... if that was how you derived your income.

[mohavesam]

Ghillie suit - Night vision - box of those 5-hr energy shots...

As long as there's a HWP in the White House and 42Million jobless, the scavenging will continue. Be proactive!

"...you keep the camera on 'em; I'll sneak around and sweeten up their gas tank..."

[JohndeFresno]

I remember a rash of hay thefts when I was a Madera County deputy, in the mid '70's. Some ranchers actually did take some action. They placed some bear traps around a large stack of hay and got up on the stacks with 30-30's and shotguns.

I don't know all that they did to advertise the large stash, but after only a couple of nights of stakeouts (and it was in the middle of an area frequently hit), they indeed caught the culprits.

Now I certainly would not recommend what they did, because even back then they could have been sued (which the young thugs threatened but did not pursue). For the sake of the ranchers not being sued, I was extremely glad that none of the thieves had stepped on one of the traps.

Upon my arrival, the crooks' pickup truck had a flat tire - from one of the bear traps. The thieves were sitting, one of them started to cry (apparently scared to death and relieved the he was being arrested instead of strung up or shot) when I made the arrest. They were sitting down by the stack, bound in baling wire. One or more of the thieves claimed that they were shot at; but the ranchers all insisted that no shots were fired. There were more ranchers than thieves making the claim, so that is what the report subsequently read. I did not take all of the particulars at the scene; another deputy did; and I was too busy patting the backs of the ranchers to worry about the details. The thugs were subsequently convicted in court of conspiracy to commit grand theft of agricultural products and attempted grand theft.

The rash of hay thefts literally and totally stopped from that day forward, until I left for another agency some 5 years or so later.

[Sixgun]

Mike,
Its useless to use cameras. They all look the same. Its even more useless to turn 'em in to the law...They go to the big house where they have their other family members and friends to BS with. (remember, they don't have Leverguns.com)

The only solution that might work is what JohndeFresno talked about. I really like the idea of the bear traps.
chop, chop, chop -------------------Sixgun

[Jarhead]

Nothing worse than a thief. I hope you get the issue resolved.