INTRO: When they got their jobs in October, interim mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. and police chief James Barren put together a copper theft task force. In the last couple years, thieves have done tens of millions of dollars in damage to homes and businesses. They often steal copper piping just to get a quick $20 for drugs. In part 2 of a series on copper theft, Michigan Now’s Chris McCarus follows police to Southwest Detroit.
TRX1: The Detroit police SWAT team is loading ice picks and claw hammers into what looks like a UPS truck. Lt. Derrek Hassan will follow in his own vehicle.
AX1: “We can get out here. We’ll get in the car. We caravan over there.”
TRX2: The caravan slides out of the unmarked police building through unplowed streets. A few minutes later it turns just off Michigan Avenue. The Michigan Central Train Station stands nearby. Fifteen storeys of broken windows. Its metals ripped out years ago.
AX2: “It’ll be showtime here in a minute.”
TRX3: Lt Hassan heads the copper theft task force. He’s directed the SWAT team to a small white house on Wabash. They’ve anticipated every move the suspects inside might make. And where they’ll take em if they shoot em.
AX3: “Then our hospital of choice will be DRH. We’ll just shoot Rosa Parks to 75. 75 Mack.”
TRX4: The truck has reached the house. A dozen men jump out of the back. They’re wearing vests, helmuts, gloves and automatic rifles. All in black. Lieutenant Hassan follows.
AX4: “Let’s go.”
NS exiting the car
AX5: (breaking in the door)
TRX5: The SWAT team hurls their icepicks and hammers into the front door. They surround the place. That’s not hard, cuz it’s tiny. Some people are inside. But the team is focusing on a German Shepherd and two pit bulls. They might have to shoot THEM. Lieutenant Hassan can’t see all this yet.
AX6: “alright we got a dog and we got somebody in the house.”
TRX6: A dog is let out. The team holds their fire. Some of them are also Army Rangers. Trained to stay focused.
AX7: “We got atleast one in the house. Dog coming out the back. Dog coming out the back…….Alright what our SRT team will do is they’ll secure the house, the residence and anybody inside and we’ll go in and start our search.”
TRX7: The house across the street is suspicious too. A man whose name I’ll change to Bill lives there and possibly runs this little white house as a scrap metal depot. Residents walk down the street and come out of other houses and stop and stare.
AX8: “we get a lot of this with the neighbors. You know. I’m sure some of the elated and some of them may have a connection with this house. Hard to say.”
TRX8: The team uses a device to probe up into the attic and behind doors. The Lieutenant will wait a couple more minutes before going in.
AX9: “Hey stretch you guys secure back there?…..(beep) all right we’re holding it down up front.” AX10: “A lot of this piping is difficult to identify. You know but many of these items came from nearby vacant homes. Even occupied churches and homes. It’s quite the epidemic.”
TRX9: The SWAT team flows out of the house and stands in the front yard.
AX10: “Clear. Yeah we’re all set the house is clear now.”
TRX10: Lieutenant Hassan walks in. Three middle aged black man are kneeling handcuffed facing the wall. They wear trousers, dark sweatshirts and knit caps. The taller one, wears no socks or shoes. They say they don’t know where Bill is. Hassan says Bill could be trading drugs for scrap metal. These guys are just here for the drugs.
AX11: “What you guys doing? Doing a little scrappin? I don’t scrap. You don’t scrap? I work in a bar. Do ya? Who’s doing the scrapping? Who lives here?”
TRX11: A man who says his name is Van Johnson says he’s watching the house for a woman named Janet.
NS copper
TRX12: Looking up you’ll see bare rafters, no ceiling, no insulation. Just the roof built a hundred years ago. Same for the walls. Just wooden planks. On the floor, 200 or so pounds of copper piping. An assortment of sizes and angles in a pile. Cut with hacksaws or just ripped out.
AX12: “Looks like a residential line. They burn it in a pit and take it to the scrap yard. Cash.”
TRX13: In April, copper sold for $4 a pound. Now it’s down to about a buck 25. That doesn’t necessarily mean copper scrapping is down too. The youngest and least grungy of the three men in handcuffs says he doesn’t have any warrants for his arrest. And he doesn’t want to go back to jail.
AX13: “I shouldn’t have any. I just did 6 months. He cut me loose. I just was down there.”
TRX14: Down in the Wayne County jail. The man is ready to talk to police.
AX14: “Sgt. Can I have a word with you privately.”
TRX15: This man walks to the back of the house with Sgt Cole. Another man, 10 or 15 years older, says he’s never been in trouble with the law.
AX15: ….you might be able to get there but I’ll tell you what. I’m gonna give you a ticket.”
TRX16: The older man doesn’t have any outstanding warrants for his arrest. The other two do but they are for misdemeanors. Sgt Cox has called in their names to the station and run a background check.
AX16: “What happened they were issued tickets. And they didn’t appear in court and a judge issued warrants for their arrest. And consequently they are in contact with police now and it’s up to my lieutenant whether we’re gonna kick ‘em or lock em up on misdemeanor warrants.”
TRX17: Van Johnson gets arrested for operating without a scrap dealer’s licence. Amongst some rags on the floor he finds two socks and shoes to slip on. An officer escorts him to a police car. Before the raid, the men were sitting on soiled upholstered chairs watching tv. They had an illegal hook up to the gas line. They tore the door off a gas stove and set it next to them and the tv to stay warm. Sgt Worboys
AX17: “probably more than half the houses that burn up in the city in the winter time are due to people trying to heat it with a stove or portable heaters. The cords fray. The house goes up in a matter of minutes.”
TRX18: Lieutenant Hassan wears rubber gloves. He’s looking for more scrap, money or other suspicious things. He finds a ammunition clip for a hand gun.
AX18: “There’s a lot of scrap in here. There’s a lot of hiding places. Bunch of food. They’re in hear for the long haul. A lot of sandwiches packed.”
TRX19: Sandwiches, marijuana, some crack and a tv. That’s what these low level copper scrappers are living for.
AX19: “Yeah. They’re on the bottom of the operation. And we see that. But we eventually get to the top of the operation. So to get to the top you gotta go through the bottom. But that’s what we do. It’s a lot of hard work. But it pays off.”
TRX19: Lt. Derrek Hassan has executed13th search warrant in 3 months. After this raid, he questioned Bill who denied involvement with the scrap house. In the meantime, AT&T says since the Detroit Police Copper Theft Task force started, destruction of their wires has gone down by 75%. The Police chief and the mayor are pleased. They want to keep up the show of force.
I do the job with these dogs and as far as animal behavior goes, I’m a strong believer in nurture and coaching. I’ve met Jack Russell Terriers that I would not go close to once again, but have by no means had a poor practical knowledge with an American Staffordshire Terrier. If you’re talking about their owners- well, that’s a diverse story. Humans are creatures as nicely, and we tend to each have our individual tips about “moral concepts”.