The Detroit City Council is debating an ordinance that would require scrap metal dealers operating in the city to provide weekly updates to the police department of their purchases. City Council is expected to hold public hearings on the proposed ordinance Oct. 16th.
Along with providing logs on all their purchases, the ordinance would require scrap dealers to install surveillance cameras on their property.
The introduction of the ordinance follows a significant increase in the number of metal thefts throughout the city.
Cities throughout the country have been introducing, debating and even passing legislation that would require scrap metal recyclers to provide more detailed information on the purchase of scrap metal, as well as more accurate information on the seller.
While acknowledging the benefit of the Detroit ordinance, Ken Cockrel Jr., Detroit’s City Council president, notes, "I voted no on the introduction of these ordinances. This is primarily because the ordinances have yet to be thoroughly reviewed by the city’s Law Department, which is customary in council’s ordinance approval process.
"This is primarily because the ordinances have yet to be thoroughly reviewed by the city’s Law Department, which is customary in council’s ordinance approval process," Cockrel continued. "Furthermore, the ordinances have also not been reviewed either by the Police or Building Safety and Engineering Departments. Since these departments will be directly involved in enforcement, their input is critical prior to introduction of the ordinance."
This leads to my second concern. Because the input of these departments may lead to substantive changes in the ordinance language, these changes would force the Council to have to re-introduce the ordinance so that notice of these changes can be given to the public. While this is a critical public safety issue, I believe it makes sense to address the potential need for language changes on the front end rather than after the fact.
Based on a cursory review of the ordinances, the Law Department has already said it has identified some "legal problems."
When one considers this, the need to ensure that these ordinances are well-crafted and pass legal muster becomes paramount Furthermore, the ordinances have also not been reviewed either by the Police or Building Safety and Engineering Departments. Since these departments will be directly involved in enforcement, their input is critical prior to introduction of the ordinance," Cockrel concluded.
Robert Kimmel with Kimmel Scrap Iron & Metal, notes that while his company understands the reason why the city is discussing implementing the ordinance, he is less comfortable with the position of policeman that scrap dealers might have to play in any new ordinance.
What is even more concerning is if there would be any extended “hold” period for any material brought to a scrap yard.
“We are willing to work with the city, but we can’t take the policeman’s responsibilities,” Kimmel says.