Copper prices have climbed high enough that bare wire and pipe are starting to look like fast cash, and thieves are following the metal wherever they can find it. What used to be a nuisance crime is now cutting into critical infrastructure, darkening streets, and threatening emergency communications. I am seeing a pattern that stretches from quiet irrigation fields to dense city blocks, with the same result: a few dollars in scrap value traded for outsized risk to everyone else.
The spike in copper theft is colliding with already strained power and telecom systems, and the timing could hardly be worse for households facing rising utility bills. As crews race to repair cut lines and gutted junction boxes, the costs are landing on taxpayers, ratepayers, and small businesses that can least afford another hit.
From dark streets to dead lines
The most visible sign of this crime wave is literal darkness. In Anaheim, officials have watched thieves smash open streetlight bases and pull out wiring, leaving long stretches of roadway unlit. One city leader warned that any time a streetlight is out, it becomes darker, and well lit areas are less prone for crime and traffic issues to occur, a simple equation that turns copper theft into a public safety problem rather than a property dispute, as documented in reports on streetlight wire theft. When thieves strip multiple poles in a row, entire neighborhoods lose the basic deterrent of light, and drivers suddenly find themselves navigating blind spots where they used to rely on overhead lamps.
The same pattern is playing out in telecom networks, where a single cut can silence thousands of phones and internet connections. In one case, Bright Speed, a regional provider, said thieves have been stealing copper from its lines, a costly crime that has been on the rise and that leaves customers without service while crews splice and replace damaged cable, as seen in footage of thieves caught on camera. When those lines carry not just streaming video but alarm signals and business transactions, the damage ripples far beyond the scrap value of the metal that disappeared.
Public safety on the line
Law enforcement is increasingly blunt about the stakes. In Arizona, Sergeant Brian Bow has warned that while the copper wiring that is being targeted in utility boxes may only get thieves a few dollars, the tampering is so reckless that it is going to cause a death if it continues unchecked, a stark assessment tied to a surge in incidents that threaten public safety and emergency response, as he explained in coverage of a surge in copper theft. When someone pries open a live electrical cabinet to yank out wire, they are not just risking electrocution, they are disabling systems that control traffic lights, street signals, and power to nearby buildings…