King County prosecutors seek crackdown on sale of stolen copper
Copper theft bill stalls in Olympia, prosecutor vows renewed push
A bill aimed at cracking down on the sale of stolen copper and other metals failed to pass this legislative session, but a King County prosecutor says efforts are far from over.
SEATTLE - A bill to crack down on the sale of stolen metals, including copper, didn't succeed this legislative session, but an attorney at the King County Prosecutor's Office who helped draft it has a message for businesses getting hit by copper thieves: we're not giving up.
He still hopes to stop the demand by creating a database that would track the sale of stolen metals like copper.
Gary Ernsdorff is the Supervising Attorney for the King County Prosecutor's Office Special Operations Unit and said similar legislation has worked for catalytic converters.
"As long as there's somebody out there willing to buy it, there's going to be an endless stream of people who want to steal it to sell it to make that quick buck," he said.
Copper theft in Seattle
Local perspective:
Ernsdorff knows all about copper thefts plaguing our area's transit systems, utilities, and small businesses.
He said Sound Transit is getting hit by copper thieves several times a week, affecting service for communities. He said they're also seeing issues involving utility poles in rural areas.
We've recently covered The Lockspot Cafe in Ballard, which has been hit twice by thieves. Its owners have been camping inside to stop more damage.
"I heard about The Lockspot, and it pains me, right? That — it's really unfortunate, because a thief can have a significant impact on a small business like that, for really stealing a small amount of copper, but it can have a huge impact," Ernsdorff said.
He said the price of copper has hit historic highs this year and is expected to increase moving forward.
"Unfortunately, we're hearing about them almost daily," he said.
Big picture view:
Ernsdorff helped create Washington Senate Bill 6190, also known as the Copper Wire Theft Bill, which became a talking point this session.
His goals are to target demand, require recyclers to take a picture of what they buy, collect seller information, and upload it all to a database used by law enforcement.
"Before the bill, if there's a theft, law enforcement, you know, they could go out to every recycler in the area and see if it's been sold. They just don't have the resources to do that," he told FOX 13 Seattle.
It would have also created a new felony charge for Destruction of Critical Communications Infrastructure.
"This would allow law enforcement to immediately access an entire database of everything that was recently sold, immediately target the stolen property, and then, begin their investigation. Go collect it, seize it, and get the purchaser information, and work back from there," Ernsdorff said.
The bill was modeled after a program in place for pawn shops that has already been effective for law enforcement agencies, he said.
The other side:
Lawmakers ran out of time.
Ernsdorff said recyclers had issues with the bill.
"They were opposed to retaining the material, the evidence, for even a minute after the purchase, so that was struck out of the bill, and then they opposed having the police seize the stolen material that they had just purchased," he said. "The purchaser had to retain it in its original condition for a set period of time."
That's a hurdle he's working to overcome.
Ernsdorff said they have a number of crimes they can charge right now linked to this activity, including theft, malicious mischief, and trafficking in stolen property.
He supported successful legislation to stop catalytic converter thefts, and he's confident they'll do it again.
"It's really pretty simple. Rather than targeting the supply side and the thieves, we really wanted to target the demand side and in order to do that, we came up with a very simple solution," he said.
What's next:
He wants businesses to know that he is not giving up.
"It just means that we will all have to wait for another year to try to get this legislation in place," he said.
Owners at The Lockspot Cafe told FOX 13 Seattle they have not heard from Mayor Katie Wilson's office despite their pleas for help. We've also reached out to the Mayor's Office to see if she plans to contact them and so far, we have not gotten a response related to their specific situation.
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The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter Dan Griffin.