Trash bin hook thefts skyrocketing in St. Louis

[proud2BlibKansan]

ST. LOUIS • Scrap metal thieves are latching onto a new form of back alley loot that may cost city taxpayers thousands of dollars, police and officials say.

Police say the theft of trash bin hooks has soared dramatically across St. Louis over the past two months, causing delays in trash pickup and leaving the city on the hook for repair and labor costs.

Two triangle-shaped steel plates with two teeth on the ends are bolted to the sides of the city's 30,000 trash, yard waste and recycle bins. The mechanical arms of trash trucks grab the hooks in order to lift the bins and dump them into truck beds.

Without the hooks, trash begins to pile up because the trucks are incapable of grabbing the bins.


Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/trash-bin-hook-thefts-skyrocketing-in-st-louis/article_8d86211a-ba2c-11e1-81e0-0019bb30f31a.html#ixzz1yMOrXA7x

[panader0]

1. Metal recyclers in my area would not buy these obvious thefts

All metal recycled here requires a signature, even for beer cans. Copper and steel are especially suspect and the signing rule discourages theft.

[L0oniX]

2. Nothing that a little bit of welding wouldn't take care of.

Should have been welded to begin with.

[ret5hd]

3. No shit. Even just an inch or two on the long edges.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. And engraved.

[MrSlayer]

5. In order to be worth it you'd need to haul around tons of these things.

At least you'd get a workout I guess. Steel is cheap. Copper and brass is where it's at.

[Politicalboi]

6. Wouldn't it be easier

To have holes at the bottom and forks go it and then it's dumped? That's how the dumpsters used to be.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. They'd have to redesign every trash bin in the city

That's expensive.

[L0oniX]

8. No. These hooks allow for a wide steel pipe or bar or posts to be used to pick them up...

rather than 2 long forks that must be aimed at 2 holes at the bottom or sides of the container.

[Liberal_in_LA]

9. weird thefts