The growing theft of valuable copper wires that line the city continues to frustrate many Dallas residents and leave them without power.
Dallas City Council Member Carolyn King Arnold says the theft of critical copper infrastructure is increasingly organized, with teams of people participating.
“They’re able now to employ individuals. We understand that there are some homeless individuals who are a part of the network because they’re paying them to do lookout. You have individuals who are renting trucks,” said King Arnold, per WFAA.
The problem, says Arnold, is that theft remains a misdemeanor, something she is trying to change in partnership with a state representative. When caught, she says, perpetrators simply receive “a slap on the wrist” and then “move on.”
Arnold urges residents to report copper theft to authorities when they see it happening, provided they can do so safely.
Last year, The Dallas Express reported that a number of both power and telecommunication outages that impacted North Texas were linked to the removal of copper wiring from utility poles. Copper theft has gotten so bad in the city that AT&T even launched a reward program offering upwards of $10,000 for details leading to the arrest and conviction of individuals involved in these crimes.
Copper is stolen for its value in the resale market. Thieves can make off with wiring that costs tens of thousands of dollars, eventually reselling it to scrap yards.
“If I see those devices hanging, I already know what to expect when I go into the house,” said Barbara Fluker, a resident of Oak Cliff while describing the hanging electrical wires in her backyard to WFAA. According to Fluker, thieves have cut wires at least three times in her neighborhood in the past year alone.
“So, that means we’re going to be out of the internet maybe a week, maybe two days, maybe three days. Sometimes, it has lasted as long as two weeks,” she said.