On this week’s In Focus Missouri, Ellisville Chief of Police Steve Lewis explains the type of charges people could face if caught with copper wire theft. He provides data on the amount of people charged so far this year. Lewis discusses why people turn to theft and how it’s a larger issue at scale because of poor economy making people turn to more petty crimes. He talks about what kind of mitigation efforts are put in place to deter those looking to steal copper wire, such as tagging the wire with it’s origin so those looking to buy can see if it’s stolen or not and refuse to purchase.