May 5th, 2011
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Author: Junk dealers in Milwaukee would have to report detailed information to police – including photos of people selling scrap items to them – under new legislation approved by the Common Council earlier this week.
The new requirements are an attempt to reduce the sale of stolen items in the city. The Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors has called for greater oversight of junk dealers and scrap yards. It noted in a March letter to the council that vacant homes, including foreclosed ones, are sometimes stripped of furnaces, plumbing and electrical components by thieves who later sell the items as scrap.
The legislation, sponsored by aldermen Terry Witkowski and Jim Bohl, would add to existing recordkeeping requirements. Under the new system, dealers would be required to forward transaction records, including photos of sellers and the scrap they’re selling, to a Milwaukee police database daily.
Only certain items would be subject to daily reporting. They include: aluminum siding, gutters, downspouts, screens, windows, window frames and doors, metal bath tubs and sinks, non-plastic pipe, copper, other metal items (except aluminum cans), stained glass, traffic signs, aluminum light poles, water meters, cemetery monument plaques, fixtures from houses of worship, catalytic converters, bicycles, bicycle frames or parts and manhole covers, including lids, grates and frames.
The legislation creates an exception for bulk scrap sales: If the sale exceeds five items or 200 pounds, dealers are only required to take a photo of the entire truckload, not individual items.
The ordinance has not yet been signed by Mayor Tom Barrett.
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