Cupertino? No, copper thieves keep hitting Los Angeles
Los Angeles keeps losing copper wire from streetlights, and the bill is not small. The thefts knock out lights, leave neighborhoods dark, and cost the city millions every year. That means repairs, replacements, and more public money going into the same hole over and over. It is the kind of civic routine that makes taxpayers wonder if anyone is actually in charge, or if the city has simply decided to let the problem mature on its own. Mayor Karen Bass has been criticized for not putting enough focus on arrests and tougher penalties, which, in a sane world, would be a basic first step.
The city’s bright idea is solar lights and bigger bills
Instead of pushing a hard crackdown on thieves, Bass has backed solar lighting and a 120 percent jump in the streetlighting assessment for property owners. That is a bold move in the usual government style, where the people who did not break the lights are asked to pay more for the privilege of living near them. Critics say the approach treats the symptom, not the crime, and turns a theft problem into a billing problem. Bureaucracy does love a solution that looks active on a slide deck while the actual streets stay dark. It is cheaper to announce resilience than to demonstrate it.
LADWP wants armed officers of its own
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has now floated a very different fix. It wants its own armed police force to deal with copper thieves. In a letter to the City Council, the agency noted that the Port of Los Angeles and the city airports already have their own police authorities, so the idea is not exactly science fiction. LADWP security officers are currently unarmed and cannot make arrests, which leaves them waiting on the LAPD. That would be manageable if the LAPD were fully staffed and speedy, but decades of decline have left the department with its lowest sworn personnel number in 25 years. Reality, as usual, arrived late and without backup.
Cheap fixes were available, but the city passed
The strange part is that this crisis did not lack cheaper ideas. Entrepreneur Mark James of End Metal Theft proposed a $300 locking cover system meant to stop thieves from reaching the copper. City officials instead leaned toward solar streetlights that can cost up to $6,000 each. That is the sort of choice that makes people suspect a meeting between public policy and common sense was canceled at the door. The proposed armed force would still need approval from voters and the state legislature, and it would cost millions. So the city may end up paying more to protect lights after refusing a cheaper way to keep thieves out of them. Efficiency is not dead in Los Angeles, but it does appear to be on a very long lunch break.
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