Posted on 11/26/2005 4:46:31 PM PST by SaltyJoe
Believed sold for scrap by thieves 130 street fixtures in Baltimore have been cut down Gary Gately, New York Times
Given that they stand some 30 feet tall, their disappearance is attracting a good deal of attention here -- even as their final destination remains a mystery.
Thieves are sawing down aluminum light poles. Some 130 have vanished from Baltimore's streets in the last several weeks, authorities say, presumably sold for scrap metal. But so far the case of the pilfered poles has stumped the police and left many local residents wondering just how someone manages to make off with what would seem to be a conspicuous street fixture.
The culprits seem to have pole-snatching down to a model of precision and efficiency, city officials say. They appear to have gone so far as dressing up as utility crews, police say, and placing orange traffic cones around the poles about to be felled, to avoid arousing suspicion among motorists.
The missing poles have become yet another measure of the desperation in one of the country's most violent cities. Last year, Baltimore, with a population about one-twelfth that of New York City's, had a homicide rate more than five times as high.
An illegal drug trade fuels much of the violence. Health officials say 40,000 addicts live among Baltimore's estimated 650,000 residents. For at least a decade, addicts who cash in scrap metal to pay for their next fix have been ripping metal pipes, radiators and wires out of vacant houses, and prying cast-iron security grates and downspouts from buildings.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Were there security cameras on top of any of these poles?
If you were in charge of protecting the top brass of our gov't, would you drive POTUS through Baltimore if Fredericksburg were a better egress? Double super suspicion--do you feel channeled to go certain directions instead of having ALL options open? Triple suspicion--how easy is it to close down a North/South tunnel/bridge and stop traffic from VA to DE? Answer, one prank call...and then prank calls until no one believes in the "crying wolf" ruse.
I'm sure Maryland is a good state, but it seems like Baltimore is the tail wagging the dog. It sounds like King County/Olympia for Washington state, L.A. for California, and NYC for New York.
they are scraping them for the metal it happened out in l.a. some years back
You remind me of the famous video tape the police got of a bum stealing a video camera....that's right, as it was taping him!
Apparently they cant catch any kind of criminals in Baltimore
I will resist the temptation to make light of this problem.
"New Africa, Maryland"..........you can name something "New England" or "New Africa", but the behavior doesn't really change much from the original to the "new"....
How many places in town can you fence a hot pole?
Maybe the city forgot to pay its light bill.
"Is that a light pole in your pants, or are ya' just glad to see me?"
Kurt Schmoke took over and the City went to Hell in a handcart.
O'Malley the current mayor is a shanty Irish hack.
"Bawlemer" won't get any better until a mayor who cares about the City takes over.
The Chinese want aluminum and are bidding prices up to get it. All the salvage yards are selling their light metal to China.
Was Louisiana scraped off the map?
What is a "cant"?
Is that a new technique for catching criminals?
When I was in the steel distribution industry, we sold thousands of tons of steel scrap to scrap dealers who, in turn, sold and shipped it back to the steel mills.
Baltimore, as well as all of urban Maryland, sucks. MNy high school brags about how O'Malley is a graduate and I suppose they wonder why I don't send a frakin' donation.
"It will cost about $156,000 to replace each pole."
Imagine paying $156,000 for a 250 pound aluminum pole with a lighting fixture. Hard earned taxpayer money is lining someone's pocket in Baltimore.
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