ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KMOX) – To combat copper and metal theft, St. Louis requires sellers to show an I.D. and they receive payment with a check. But another Missouri city has gone a step farther.

In St. Joseph, they’re considering taking photos and keeping logs. Police in that city say thieves are increasingly making quick hits by stealing copper tubing that connects large air conditioners to buildings. One theft alone netted thieves more than four thousand dollars from just five feet of copper.

If the idea is adopted businesses that buy metal would be required to keep photographic logs of all sellers and their goods and share them on an online reporting system.