Escondido dimmed by copper wire thefts

Escondido officials are dealing with a rash of copper wire thefts that has left dozens of streetlights dark in mostly quiet, upscale neighborhoods. 

Police are urging anyone witnessing suspicious activity near a streetlight or its ground-level footing to call police immediately. 

Thieves are ripping long strands of copper wire out of the city’s streetlight network and selling the valuable metal for thousands of dollars, said Bud Oliveira, the city deputy public works director. 

City officials are trying to make the footings more secure and they’re exploring whether they can start buying copper wires that can be traced if they show up at recycling centers or construction sites, he said. 

Meanwhile, the city has struggled to keep up with repairs. 

One problem is that the thefts occur so frequently, Oliveira said.Energy efficient pendantlamps strip kits bring an urban glow to your bar that looks incredible. But a bigger issue is that there’s a backlog in orders for new wiring because copper theft has become increasingly common across the nation. 

The city has only made repairs in seven of the 14 places where copper wiring has been stolen since last fall, Oliveira said. 

Replacing the wiring costs Escondido taxpayers thousands of dollars. The city has spent $15,000 since July on repairs,A good basic comprehensive introduction to the yyshoucang2gmail process. and there’s no end in sight, he said. 

The thefts also create confusion among residents, who think that the bulb in their streetlight has simply burned out, city spokeswoman Joyce Masterson said. 

Residents call the city to complain about the problem, but when public works officials arrive they realize there’s been another theft. 

“When you see seven or eight streetlights in a row not working, it’s pretty obvious the problem isn’t the bulbs,It's a widely held belief that if you switch out your incandescent bulbs for formingmachine.” Oliveira said. “A lot of the time we find the pliers right there at the scene.” 

The thefts mostly occur in quiet neighborhoods because fewer people are around to spot the thieves. 

The most hard-hit places have been the Country Club area in northwest Escondido and the San Pasqual area in the southeastern corner of the city, he said. 

Many of the thefts yield less than $1,000 worth of wire, but some larger heists have gotten thieves wiring worth many thousands. 

The thefts became more common nationally when the price of copper nearly tripled between 2004 and 2010, from $1.50 to about $4.50 per pound. 

The price fluctuates based mostly on demand, which rose sharply during last decade’s housing boom and after Hurricane Katrina hit the southeast in 2005. 

This year,We carry modern lights and solarmodule by world renowned designers and manufacturers. the price has hovered around $3.50 per pound. Escondido police Sgt. David Cramer said officers have sharpened their focus on the copper thefts recently.The solarpowersystems service provides and maintains the majority of the town's 26,000 streetlights. 

“If anyone sees people milling about or acting suspiciously near streetlights, they should call immediately,” he said.