Copper Theft Up 76% In Phoenix, Threatening Dispuption Of Essential Services And More
By Matthew Holloway |
A rash of copper theft has exploded over the Phoenix metro area with Lumen Technologies, the parent company of CenturyLink, observing a 76% year-over-year spike. The increase in theft has been connected with both small-time criminals and drug addicts, as well as organized criminal enterprises targeting critical communications infrastructure.
In an emailed statement, Lumen Technologies’ Sr. Media Relations Manager Rachael Adair described the level of damage occurring as “rivaling natural disasters.” She warned that “these thefts can disrupt essential services, affecting access to online health and emergency services, and endangering people with medical devices. Manholes containing gas and power lines pose severe risks if tampered with.”
In an interview with AZ Free News, CenturyLink’s Head of Corporate Security Dan Chason, a 33-year law enforcement veteran, explained: “The Phoenix area of Arizona is in the top five of total losses when we rank by state. They’re in the top five as far as the amount of losses, and those losses have increased 76%.”
The losses Chason referred to include copper thefts, fiber cuts, and any equipment losses that Lumen sustains in the Arizona market. As previously reported by AZ Free News, the Tucson area was hit by a wave of copper thefts in late 2024 that left whole neighborhoods literally in the dark with street lights and traffic signals stripped.
When asked why the spike CenturyLink has seen is happening in Phoenix, Chason was answered, “The crimes now seem to be more located in the metro area of Phoenix. And there’s a reason. If I showed you a map, and I can show you a map. There’s 17 resellers in a 20 block area. Some of these are fly by night. Some of them are legit. But for the most part, they all have to abide by the law and the law is you have to have an identification and a photo ID, and you have to be the one who possesses the copper.”
The former police officer tied the phenomenon directly to drug abuse adding, “But what happens is these organized, I call them gangs, but these organized groups. They send a girlfriend, a cousin, or somebody in there to sell the copper so their name doesn’t appear on the log, yet they’re logging in. We had one situation in another state where we had a reseller that was trading crack cocaine for wire. So that tells you the type of people we’re dealing with. You got people who are looking for that next fix. They are the ones predominantly doing it. They’re looking for that next fix, and if they can go in that pedestal and make 60 bucks, they’re tickled. And that’s how they support their habit.”
He also noted Arizona’s location on the border with Mexico as a potential vector for resellers to offload the stolen copper. “You have organized groups who actually make their living doing this. The problem with Arizona? It’s not beyond the scope of imagination that you can put all this together. Get a load of cable and it goes across the border, never to be seen again. That’s the other aspect of the Southwest. It’s where it’s resold.” He noted that the resale value is higher in Mexico.
Chason also noted that while CenturyLink has seen spikes in theft in the past, “This one is right in-line to be as bad as it was before. And our losses the last time exceeded $1,000,000. So we’re very concerned about it. The problem with this issue is these thieves go out and it’s like, they’re shopping. ‘Where can I make a quick buck?’ And when you have less than scrupulous resellers that buy it without tracing where the source of it is, they go and they cash it in. They get the money.”
He said that although CenturyLink has increased security at key facilities, that isn’t always where thieves strike. “They cut down aerial wires, rip out the pedestal wires, even go into our manhole, into what we call vaults. And they go in there and it’s like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
Lumen Technologies and CenturyLink are appealing to Arizonans for help as summer approaches. “The thing that we ask the public is to be eyes and ears because this crime is not a victimless crime. Think about it. Your grandmother is at home, lives out in the sticks, falls, and breaks a hip. How does she call 911?” he asked.
“Our services affect public safety, hospitals, prisons, and your personal life up to and including your cell carrier. The big cell carriers use our fiber and our lines to provide their service so you can knockout cell carriers just by cutting some of these wires.”
Focusing on what the industry needs from lawmakers, Chason said he would ask the authorities to “stop defining this as a property crime. It’s not a property crime. It is a critical infrastructure crime.”
He continued, “Because when you hit us, you affect every possible service out there. For example, they cut some copper and fiber in Tacoma, Washington that fed the port of Tacoma and shut down the entire port. The same cut shut down a prison. It shut down a hospital. We hear these horror stories over and over and over again. And here’s where it’s going to lead. It’s going to lead to the loss of life. That’s exactly where it’s going, and all we’re asking the AG is this. We are working with our legislative branch. We have a legislative and government affairs branch that is working on legislation in Arizona right now.”
Chason concluded that the issue will persist “until we get these designated as a serious crime that has serious penalties.” He continued, “Because our biggest issue is police response because they view it as a property crime. I had a detective tell me that ‘if it ain’t bleeding, don’t call me.’ We defund the police. We don’t give the police the resources that they need, and I’m sensitive to that because that’s where I come from.
“But the fact remains, we are part of that tax base and part of that community, and our job is to be able to serve our customers with the promises that we make. And when you have customers that are without services for weeks because of having to reroute our crews to service the same cuts over and over and over again…. We had one cut, we were repairing an aerial cable in the curve of a road, our crew is on the upper curve repairing, and the thieves are back on the other again, cutting it again! It’s a vicious cycle.
“And it’s not going to change until the public says that’s enough. I’m not feeding your drug habit anymore. That’s enough. If you see something, say something. And once we get that and we can make enough noise, the police will respond.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.