Like many cities, counties, and agencies throughout the country, San Francisco is fighting a wave of metal thefts as vandals cash in on copper from street lights and metal from pipes. Now, the Supervisors have a new plan to curb the appetites of the scrap metal dealers who cash-in the pilfered goods. Stolen metal can garner as much as $4 per pound at a scrap metal buyer.

Now, however, San Francisco has given initial approval to a plan that would require both buyers and sellers of scrap metal to be permitted. The permits – $1,358 per year for buyers and $768 for sellers – would be overseen by the police department, who could determine qualifications and enforce conditions of the permits.

Sellers and buyers would have to apply for the permits each year and violating the terms could result in the suspension or revocation of the permits entirely.

Read the full story at the San Francisco Chronicle.