Massive Spike In Copper Wire Theft Leaves Entire Tucson Neighborhoods And Busy Streets Dark
By Matthew Hollway |
Wide swaths of Tucson city streets are cloaked in darkness on a nightly basis as city officials have struggled to grapple with a massive spike in copper theft. As many as 1,000 city streetlights have been disabled and stripped, leaving local roadways dark. Tucson officials told the Arizona Daily Star that the thieves have been stripping out the copper from the streetlights faster than maintenance crews can replace it. The cost to the taxpayer has spiraled to approximately $1.3 million in replacement wire and infrastructure repair.
Last month, KVOA reported that a neighborhood near the intersection of Fort Lowell and Romero roads was primarily lit by residents’ Christmas lights. The outlet reports that over 400,000 feet of wire has been stolen.
In a statement to the network, the City of Tucson said, “[T]hieves are stealing the wire faster than staff can replace it. [T]hese thefts have overwhelmed staff’s capacity to make repairs. Staff is working as efficiently as possible to keep up with all the outages.”
The wire, coveted by thieves, can be sold and recycled, yielding about $2.30 per pound in the southern area of Arizona. The Arizona Daily Star reported that, per Tucson PD, the stolen wire is difficult to track, owing to a lack of identifying markings on the malleable copper. Although scrap merchants are required to document the identities of those they purchase copper from, this is of limited assistance when the individual stolen items cannot be tracked.
City officials with the Department of Transportation and Mobility told reporters that the issue is exacerbated by staffing shortages impacting the city and have led to a six-month backlog on repair orders. As a result, a triage system is now in use prioritizing pedestrian crosswalks, as well as higher speed and higher traffic volume roadways.
In an October post to X, the Department warned would-be thieves, “Stealing copper wire is not only illegal, it’s extremely dangerous! Copper theft can lead to severe injuries, power outages, and even loss of life. Think twice before putting yourself & others at risk. Report suspicious activity to authorities immediately. Stay safe, stay smart!”
The city told KVOA that it is bringing about new security measures in an attempt to prevent future thefts but declined to provide details. They did tell reporters that they are working closely with the Tucson Police Department.
Tucson Vice Mayor Kevin Dahl told the Arizona Daily Star, that the city has brought in contractors to aid city workers in identifying, locating, and repairing the disabled lights in a costly operation not accounted for in the city’s budget.
“We have to do it, but some other program will suffer because of that,” Dahl explained. “The money (to fix this) doesn’t come out of nowhere. There’s no special grants for this.”
Addressing the new security efforts he added, “We are trying innovative techniques to foil continued theft, and while some have been circumvented, we hope that some will ultimately prove successful.”
Dahl told reporters that although residents cannot repair the damaged lights themselves, security camera footage and tips from witnesses have contributed to successful arrests and felony charges. “Getting the culprits arrested is the best prevention,” Dahl said. “Help be our eyes in your neighborhoods. If you see this happening, 911 is a real quick call to make … if we knock off 10-20% of the bad guys, that’s a lot off our work load.”
Matthew Holloway is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.