St. Paul police, public works aim to cut copper wire thefts
St. Paul police and public works staff are working to discourage copper thefts from city street lights and to arrest thieves targeting copper wire.
The issue has been ongoing in the city for the last four years. Thieves remove the lower access panels of the city's green street lamps and pull out the wire, leaving streets and parks darkened.
The thefts have plagued all parts of the city.
In recent months, the city has made arrests connected to the thefts.
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St. Paul Police Deputy Chief Kurt Hallstrom says the public has been key in catching thieves.
“There's 45,000 streetlights in the city of St. Paul. And there's 500 and some of us, so we needed the community to start calling and they have,” he said. “We're not making huge numbers of arrests… we're approaching 30, which is a substantial increase from where we've been in the past.”
Thieves have been stripping copper wire out of street lamps and, more recently, other wired gear such as telephone systems, traffic lights and HVAC systems.
Sean Kershaw, the director of public works for the city of St. Paul, said the thefts have become more and more costly.
“We looked back, and I think we spent a couple $100,000 on copper wire theft in 2019. And 2023, we spent over $1.1 million. That's simply trying to keep up with wire that's been stolen,” he said.
Kershaw said they’ve hired more staff to help replace wiring in street lamps that have been hit. They are also trying out some new streetlight poles that they say will be more theft resistant.
Legislation has been introduced in the Minnesota House and Senate that would require a license to sell copper wire.
“We think it is really innovative legislation,” Kershaw said. “And it would be the first of its kind that we know of in the country to try and do for copper wire what we learned worked for catalytic converters.”