SALT LAKE CITY — There is a growing issue in Salt Lake City that is putting people’s safety at risk and costing the city close to a million dollars to repair: copper wire theft from streetlights.
A part of the city that is impacted by the thefts and vandalism is the 9th and 9th area in Salt Lake City.
“The more it grows and the more walkable it becomes, the more businesses and restaurants, boutiques and stuff that are in the area, you get more of that foot traffic,” said Davis Matson, who lives in the area. “Safety, between everyone sharing the roads — pedestrians, cars, cyclists, motorcyclists – pretty important for the area, I would say.”
And a big part of that safety is having streetlights.
“In this area, we’ve had a lot of wire theft, vandalism,” explained David Pearson, the street lighting program manager for Salt Lake City. “People messing with our lighting systems, that includes cutting wires, opening our boxes, damaging our poles and stealing the copper that’s in the ground.”