From silent alarms, welding, retail screws to even duct tape, Twin Cities officials have tried more than a dozen solutions to prevent copper wire thefts this year. Some fixes have shut down criminal rings while others fell short, and as residents walk darkened streets ahead of a new law aimed at curbing the destructive and expensive trend, the search continues for a foolproof answer.
Copper wire thefts surged across the nation around 2020, and the value of copper skyrocketed. It now sells for about $4.56 a pound.
Thieves often strip wire from light poles along park trails and quiet streets, darkening miles of pathway and then selling the metal to recyclers and scrapyards. Authorities have charged many suspects, often with recycling professionals’ help, but the problem continues.
“Streetlight wire theft has [brought] another problematic year. 2023 was also quite a challenge for us,” said Joe Laurin, a project manager with the Minneapolis Public Works Department. “We think the challenge with wire theft aligns closely with the value of recycled copper.”
Thieves stripped copper wire from streetlights, homes, air conditioners and electric vehicle charging stations. Two Twin Cities men posing as employees were accused this year of causing more than $10,000 in damage while stealing copper wire from a communications tower outside Little Falls in central Minnesota. In Eagan, authorities charged a former employee with stealing at least $4,000 in copper wire from the city. And in a St. Paul neighborhood, neighbors suspect wire theft led to the death of 64-year-old Steven Wirtz; he was struck by a vehicle while walking his dog in an area darkened by copper thieves.
Copper wire thefts cost St. Paul $250,000 in damages in 2019; last year, that cost ballooned to $1.2 million. The city’s Department of Public Works has received around 1,600 reports of streetlights damaged by wire theft this year. Officials say that’s likely an undercount because wire theft can be reported through multiple departments across the city.
So far this year, Minneapolis thieves have stripped wire at a rate similar to 2023. City officials have spent at least $200,000 repairing broken lights, often near the lakes and West River Parkway.
The two cities have invested money in pursuit of both short- and long-term solutions to the problem.