Barrow County Sheriff's Office Sees Increase in Reports of Copper and Metal Thefts

The has seen an increase in the number of reported thefts of copper and metal from residential areas and commercial properties.

Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith offers the following suggestions for residents to help combat the increase in thefts.

Law enforcement's first line of defense is the public so we suggest for residential areas to possibly form a neighborhood watch program and look out for each other. The BCSO has a neighborhood watch program and you can e-mail Sgt. Cecil Kidd at ckidd@barrowsheriff.com or Cpl. James "Buck" Stover at jstover@barrowsheriff.com for more information relating to that.

Commercial properties have been putting up surveillance cameras on many of their buildings, which prevents these suspects from stealing these items.

Again, well lit properties will sometimes deter such crime because we have found the thefts have been occurring mostly at night.

We ask that the public report suspicious persons or vehicles in their
neighborhoods or businesses. You never that person or vehicle may be staking out your home or business.