The copper wire thieves have hit our neighborhood again. Over the weekend it appears that the wires were stripped from the street lights lining Windsor Boulevard – from south of 3rd Street to Wilshire Boulevard on the west side of the street; and from south of 3rd Street to 6th Street on the east side of the street.
According to local residents, this job seems to have been done over a two day period. Initially, homeowners noticed that the northern part of this stretch – closer to 3rd Street – was dark on Sunday night and reported it to the LADWP. Then on Monday evening, it became apparent that the thieves had struck again when the lights all the way south to Wilshire Boulevard failed to light up at dusk.
As we’ve reported in the past, thieves can cut the wires and yank them out – a block at a time – in under 3 minutes. Then they sell what they’ve pulled as scrap metal. Residents should be on the lookout for any trucks, particularly with electric winding spools or winches on the back, and report them immediately to one or all three institutions: your LAPD Lead Officer or the Watch Commander, the Bureau of Street Lighting (BSL) and your Council District representative. See contact numbers below.
“We believe there are several groups of thieves who go from one area to the next, in a circular fashion, throughout the City,” Detective David Nunez told the Buzz today. He is one of the detectives assigned to investigate copper wire theft in LAPD’s Olympic Division. There are no definitive leads on cracking the copper theft rings and the continued attacks on local streets has made it a real headache for City services, the police and residents who are put in the dark.
“The City has the capability of making these lighting boxes foolproof, but it’s a big job. The wire is taken from these concrete boxes in the ground. The City could replace them all with metal boxes that could be welded shut, but with over 150,000 concrete boxes throughout LA, for now the City has decided it just has to replace the wire that’s stolen,” Detective Nunez noted.
Copper wire thefts reached a peak in early December and repairs by the BLS take as long as 8 weeks.
Recently, the Los Angeles City Council approved a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of individuals involved in the copper wire thefts.
WHO TO CALL if you believe your street lights are being hit:
1. Call 9-1-1. LAPD: call your Lead Officer or the Watch Commander: Olympic Division SLO Joe Pelayo at 626-755-4299 or Watch Commander at 213-382-9102 Wilshire Division SLO David Cordova at 213- 793-0650 or Watch Commander at213-473-0476 2. Your Council District Office who can activate an LAPD and BSL response quickly: CD 4: Benjamin Seinfeld at 213-473-0476 CD 10: Sylvia Lacy at 323-733-8233 3.Bureau of Street Lighting: 213-473-3231Larchmont Buzz: Blocks Still Dark as City Struggles to Keep Up With Repairs
Wouldn’t it be wise of DWP to note these “lights out” and let the LAPD know also?
Yes. Councilmember LaBonge asks us to let them know and they’ll notify BSL and LAPD. We made sure all were notified on this one. It’s dangerously dark and the more people who reach out the faster it will get fixed.
If you need contacts in future just go to our search bar and put in copper wire. You’ll find all of our posts about this topic with contacts most notably in this most recent story. Thanks!
Please tell them to to install a less than $25 Telephone device that would take pictures and call police when power is cut to to the light pole . Simple problem with a simple solution. An alternate solution would be to install high quality vidieo cameras on random blocks. We have to find out who is buying the copper wire which should have a hidden code on replacements.
Good ideas. We’ll forward to all involved.