Following a detailed analysis of burglary on a local authority housing estate, this report illustrates the scope for reducing this type of crime by removing the meters. According to police data for a 12 month period in 1983-84, 41 percent of residential burglaries in the Weoley Castle area of Birmingham, England, involved thefts of cash from prepayment electricity or gas meters. Further, meter cash was stolen as often as were all electrical goods, including video tape recorders and television. Results suggest that (1) households with coin meters are more likely to be victims of burglary, (2) police devote significant resources to burglaries involving meter theft, and (3) fuel boards suffer losses as the result of such thefts. Possible solutions to the problem include reintroducing pay-as-you-go schemes, more frequent emptying of meters, increasing the security of the meter coin box, and replacing the cash target with tokens. This latter solution, using a magnetically encoded token card has met with favorable reactions from customers. The card provides the economic and convenience benefits of the coin meters, it requires payment in advance of consumption, and should reduce the risk of burglaries. 2 tables, 4 figures, 9 footnotes, 15 references, and a list of 5 additional crime prevention papers.