Staffordshire Police

Operation Amalgam is working closely with neighbouring forces, community safety partners and with the business community to reduce metal theft and bring offenders to justice. This includes people who handle stolen metal, as well as those who steal it.

Metal theft is an international problem with local consequences and Staffordshire Police is constantly searching for new Operation Amalgam targets.

Staffordshire Police is working to bring offenders to justice. We are particularly keen to work with scrap metal dealers, as they have an important role in helping to reduce metal theft. 

Anyone with information about metal theft can either call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or contact their local officers on 101.

Here are a number of Operation Amalgam basic crime prevention tips:

• Review the security of perimeter fencing and gates on a regular basis, checking for holes or weak spots that might assist access to your site. 
• Consider your existing security measurers. Do Intruder Alarms, Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) and adequate lighting cover the site? 
• Review the position of skips and storage units. Where possible have secure skips and increase the security around them using cages or compounds. 
• Try and park company vehicles or business vehicles inside premises or in secure compounds overnight. If that is not possible consider how the vehicles are parked. 
• Make your metal as difficult to steal as possible. 
• Mark metal using products such as Smartwater, Red Web grease or Retaina Group for catalytic converters and use high visibility signage to deter thieves. 
• Remove Catalytic converters from long-term storage vehicles. Use signage to state that they are removed from the vehicles.