The SFPD has been taking the rampant copper thievery around the Bay Area in the last year very seriously. Today we hear that they've been tracking the scavengers in boats near the Hunters Point shipyard (we earlier heard about these waterborne copper pirates), and even caught some red-handed after a break-in in the Bayview. Furthermore, they distributed flyers to junk dealers in and around the Bayview, asking them to stop purchasing the specific kind of copper cable that PG&E uses that is most commonly ripped out by thieves. Afterward, the conducted a sting in which undercover agents went trying to sell copper to the same four junk dealers, and two of them took the bait.

Now the city is stepping in, as the Examiner reports, to crack down on these junk dealers. Supervisor Malia Cohen is proposing new legislation that would require more frequent renewal of junk dealers' permits, which would allow police greater discretion to punish the bad ones who are buying hot copper. "The lack of regulation of this industry is a direct incentive for violent and destructive criminal behavior,” says Cohen, who represents the Bayview in her district.

We'd say with all the downtrodden middle-aged men and pirate references, there could be a movie in this. But it would probably be a pretty boring and depressing movie.

[Examiner]