Police say meters have low payoff

A rash of parking meter thefts have left Parking and Transportation Services officials confused and a little amused.

Since the end of November, six parking meters have been removed and Mike Delahanty, Parking and Transportation Services operation manager, isn't quite sure why.

"There's not a lot of money in there," Delahanty said. "Once they do it once, they don't do it again."

Sgt. Eugene Mejia, UAPD spokesman, agrees that the thieves probably learn their lesson the first time.

"It's a simple method of operation," said Mejia. "Come in, take meters, realize it's not cost effective and not easy to access and stop."

The reason for the lack of money is that the change in the meters is collected every other day.

Delahanty said the thief is usually looking at less than $50 for his efforts.

"To me, it's not worth it," he said.

These efforts usually include a combination of pipe cutters and backing into the meters using a vehicle.

"The manner in which they're stolen is crude," said Mejia.

Removing the meter quickly becomes the easier part of the operation.

"The difficulty comes in getting into the meters themselves," Delahanty said, a task that seems too great for some.

"They can't get into them so they dispose of them," Delahanty said.

The perception that the meters hold valuable amounts of money fuels the meter thefts, Mejia said.

"Thieves will take a chance if something appears to be valuable," he said.

Although crossbars have been placed over parking meters in hopes of deterring theft, Delahanty said in many cases prevention isn't cost-effective.

"You have to see how much (it costs) to prevent, versus how much you actually lose," Delahanty said.

The loss comes with the damage done to the meters in the attempt to rob them.

Delahanty said each meter costs about $350 to replace while usually yielding much, much less.

Although the crime seems to be small, Mejia said the meter thieves could possibly face multiple charges including theft, criminal damage and even forced entry.

"I've heard of individuals breaking into vending machines and charged with forced entry," Mejia said.