On Wednesday, May 11th SA Recycling’s Terminal Island facility had a visit from seven police officers conducting LA City official business. While some might be alarmed to hear of a police visit, we are happy to report their arrival was solely to tour our facility and learn about recycling and metal theft. The visit included Deputy Chief Patrick Gannon (the number two officer in the LAPD), and six of his Captains, who are in charge of several Los Angeles City divisions south of the Interstate 10 freeway towards San Pedro.
They were very interested to learn about the efforts that SA Recycling has taken to prevent scrap metal theft; it was evident that future cooperation is something both parties will benefit from. Deputy Chief Gannon stated our facility was “very impressive”. The officers saw firsthand how we process and shred a wide array of metal products and how our loading operation works. They witnessed how the very scrap metal we load onto ships at our docks can be processed into semi-finished steel product, such as steel coils, rebar, and steel plates, and returned to the Port of Los Angeles to be unload at the Pasha Terminal just a few hundred yards away. This semi-finished steel is then used in manufacturing throughout the southland, creating good paying jobs in the USA. This process can be repeated thousands of times over hundreds of years since metal does not degrade and can be melted over and over and over again to make steel. The process is so much more environmentally friendly than making metal from iron ore; reducing greenhouse emissions by 90%.
Chief Gannon was also impressed with the knowledge of the group and asked to have SA Recycling’s Roger Young, Director of Loss Prevention travel to the LAPD headquarters to present the metal theft laws in his power point presentation.
LAPD Chief recognized the fact that accepting stolen scrap metal at unscrupulous recycling centers presents a whole other area of crimes contributing to an underground economy. This enables criminals to continue their crime spree and permitting criminals to purchase illegal drugs and conduct other illegal activities.
The tour was a shining example how police and business relationships can aid in the reduction of crimes, especially crimes that effect the environment and victims.
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