What will it take for Philadelphia's leaders to notice that something has fundamentally gone wrong in that city?

When will the justice system address the illegal fencing practices of the scrap metal yards. For lord's sake..... how many catalytic converters, municipal architecture and construction supplies cashed in to these criminals does it take?

I was just saying this exact thing. There are only so many places that cat converters and brass railings can end up. Where besides a scrap yard can you take precious metals? It can’t be that hard to stop these illegal operations, if the will to do so exists.

Apparently, any of it affecting them. And even then, it's a coin toss.

If they haven't noticed anything yet.....I am not hopeful

So damn sad

Reminds me of a few years ago when people were scrapping the metal cemetery flag holders from veterans graves.

Like where the fuck did the scrap yard owners think they were getting them? You might as well just walk in and scream "hey look what I stole!".

Some places do take it more seriously. Philadelphia has long been lax with enforcing laws and prosecution. The events of 2020 further encouraged more brazen lawbreaking. Many realize the police won't do much. Heck, even if the crime is on camera, takes place in broad daylight, and in front of witnesses they'll likely still get away with it.

As for why scrap yards aren't more scrutinized deserves more investigation. Do various scrap yard owners have strong political connections? Too costly / time consuming to enforce metal theft? Or apathy? Often one hears the authorities say "insurance will cover it". Often it only covers some of the loss at best. Basically, an excuse for the authorities to ignore most property crime. It's appalling.

Hope they didn't have to call 911 to report it...

With the police presence around City Hall, how does something like this happen?? Is no one paying attention?

Long as it doesn't directly affect the rich and powerful, likely never. Luxury condos continue to be built and people with money still moving in. Those well off are often shielded from most crime. If that changes, then expect stronger enforcement.

Until then, those with lower income / less political connections are relegated to avoid being a victim best they can or moving out to suburbs. In particular, to locales with a decent reputation for safety. Not all suburbs are equal; some have pretty bad crime too.

For many city residents I've met, they dislike the crime, but accept the tradeoff for what the city has to offer. I personally don't understand the allure of Philly, but each to their own.

I don't think it helps that we're constantly shown videos of people in other cities that raid. I've seen them from California to Florida to the UK.

Everyone always seeing video proof emboldens people. Surveillance begins to seem stupid when it doesn't really make a difference.

Strike that, it seems to be making a difference in releasing footage and showing how slow response time is and nothing ends up happening.

This type of thing has been going on for a long time. Back in the early 90's I was park ranger at Independence NHP and one morning I came into work to find all of the copper downspouts had been stolen. The Second National Bank had some beautiful rectangular downspouts that were taken right off the building.

I've lived within 40 miles of Philly for around 15 years. I can count on my fingers the number of times I've visited.

Democrats don’t care about crime. Philly has no chance of getting better. If you live in Philly and voted for a democrat stfu and good luck with your catalytic converter

Stay classy, Philly...

this implies the police in Philly actually do something.

Well, they do stand around quite well. During which time their eyes are open. They must see something. Should say something.

Don’t worry the police will find the culprits and the DA will lock them up for a long time.

This used to be the case.

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$20,000 damages?

Try 800$ Probably had to inflate the price to get the shitty Philly police to take it seriously.

Maybe 800 in scrap value. I'm sure they're near the mark on replacement value, though. This is the shitty thing about scrapper thieves, a painted steel rail will probably be installed as a replacement, the brass one probably was in place over 100 years and is gone forever.