New Initiative to Keep Copper Thefts Down in Rural Areas of Jasper County
By: Katie Love
Updated: April 26, 2012
JASPER COUNTY, MO -- Officials work to keep copper thefts down in rural areas of Jasper County.
Sheriff Archie Dunn says thieves have stolen air conditioning units from a number of churches in the past few months.
The thieves target the units for the copper inside, which they then sell as scrap metal.
In response, the sheriff's office will beef up surveillance.
Deputies will be divided into teams covering the east, central and western parts of Jasper County.
"If there's an air conditioning unit missing, we hope we will be the first on the scene to discover it and not the pastor of the church," Jasper County Sheriff Archie Dunn says "We are trying to be proactive on keeping the thieves down in the county."
Jasper County Officials hope to start the copper initiative in the next few weeks.
