Stolen scrap adds up to too much

When it comes to crime, there’s always a new statistic to celebrate or fear. Here’s one to ponder, from Baltimore County: a 632 percent increase there since 2005 in the theft of scrap and precious metals.

Which metals? Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith mentioned “brass piping at construction sites, bronze vases in cemeteries, a farm’s aluminum irrigation pipes, and the catalytic converters on our cars” as examples in testimony last week before the state Senate Finance Committee.

Smith and County Police Chief Jim Johnson were urging passage of state legislation to require scrap metal dealers to record sales and report them to the police. That information could be put into a regional database and checked against burglary reports, Smith said.

The bill is sponsored by two Anne Arundel County senators, James E. DeGrange Sr. and John C. Astle. The House has yet to consider its version of the bill.

Interested in following the legislative session? Check “Eye on Annapolis,” a blog written on the scene by Andy Rosen with contributions from other Daily Record reporters. At the Web site you can also sign up for Andy’s up-to-second Twitter reports. Or, if you want to do the work yourself, you can search the legislature’s Web site.