One Town Takes Action On Rising Copper Thefts [AUDIO]

Ever since Sandy made landfall, there's been a rise in copper thefts in several of the hardest-hit areas.

One Ocean County community has had enough, and is taking some decisive action.

From Toms River to Brick, Seaside to Lakewood, there had been a number of incidents both solved and unsolved.

In many of the cases, a man would pose as a contractor and swoop in, to steal the copper piping and then re-sell it. In Stafford Township's Beach Haven West, there have been 75 thefts of the piping and air conditioning condensers. Their civic association, along with the police department, have set up a neighborhood watch program.

"If you see something fishy, give us a call. We would rather come out and see that it was a false alarm than let something slip away," Lieutenant Tom Dellane says.

Extra police patrols are now out and about in Stafford and several other Jersey Shore towns.

"This is a crime of opportunity. Many of the homes that were damaged or destroyed remained and still remain vacant. This allowed them to do this with very little mind to getting caught. We have made several arrests in the past few months and more will probably be coming."

"Officers will stop work vehicles to ensure veracity but asks residents to use the phone to report any suspicious behavior."