We're fighting metal theft with a three pronged approach:
1. Prevention.
To make it harder for thieves and vandals to attack the network, we've invested in better protection and research. This has included the extension of CCTV coverage throughout all Openreach and BT buildings, along with alarmed gates and secured cabinets.
This represents over £2.5million worth of investment – £1.5million in network security, and £1million in security uplift of cable stores.
2. Engagement and intelligence.
We've also invested in research to understand exactly what we are up against and how we can effectively combat it.
Through working closely with the police, we have developed proactive, intelligence-led operations that have meant we are able to crack down on organised gangs and secure the more likely attack spots within the network.
This has involved establishment of a Metal Theft Task Force, which includes 21 people from Openreach and four investigators from BT Group Security Investigations. Success has already been achieved with over 400 arrests being made by the end of February 2011, compared to 220 for the whole of 2010.
We've also been raising exposure of the problem with the media to ensure that other agencies and the general public know what's going on – after all, we're not the only industry that's targeted by metal thieves. So we've developed a more collaborative partnership with the British Transport Police, Network Rail and the energy sectors.
3. Reducing the market.
Working with SmartWater and the scrap metal industry, we've made it harder for criminals to sell on stolen metal, as well as recovered some that had already been sold.
Openreach cable across the UK is now forensically marked with SmartWater, which is virtually impossible to remove and can be forensically traced to the individual street of origin. Many scrap metal dealers now have SmartWater detectors, and will not accept any metal with this on. More details on SmartWater can be found here.
We've also run campaigns to ensure that the general public know that when the network goes down it's because of criminal activity, rather than a fault. This has also involved the inclusion of a newly signed agreement with Crimestoppers to raise public awareness, increase vigilance and encourage them to provide information to help protect the network.
