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Thread: Copper Theft

  1. Default Re: Copper Theft

    I've seen in other states where areas without lights had more reflectors, along the interstates, to guide you against hazards. Even the paint striping glowed better at night. Seemed to make the exits more visible

  2. #27
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    Default Re: Copper Theft

    Quote Originally Posted by Pete View Post
    I don't remember this being any sort of issue in California.

    When I articles dating back moved back here I noticed the difference immediately, and commented on it.
    You may not have noticed, but it’s been a problem in California for over a decade.

    According to the NCIB, The five leading states for the thefts are Ohio, Texas, Georgia, California and Illinois.

    There are articles dating back at least 10 years about hundreds of street lights out in LA due to wire theft. And all over California.

    From the San Jose paper:
    Copper wire worth $460,000 stolen from Fremont, CA street lights

    “The The City of Freemont, CA has been hit hard over the past seven months. Copper theft is running rampant in California. “

    Articles can be found from all over CA and the world.

  3. #28

    Default Re: Copper Theft

    I don't doubt copper theft is an epidemic but the way our state and city responds to it is quite frankly alarming to say the least. You would think because it happens so frequently, the authorities would have a fast-track plan to get the lights up and running as soon as possible but the outages just linger month after month after month. Maybe a call to the mayor's office, OG&E or ODOT might get someone's attention. FWIW, I called the city's action line to report the outage of the lights along Hefner Road along the north side of the Lake Hefner dam. "Not the city's responsibility. Call OG&E." I called OG&E and amazingly the (very nice) lady in customer service had no idea the lights were out. I can't believe the outage was not known by OG&E but, what do you do? I went ahead and received a case number and was told to check back in 10 days if I don’t see the issue being addressed.

  4. #29

    Default Re: Copper Theft

    Quote Originally Posted by Hondo1 View Post
    I don't doubt copper theft is an epidemic but the way our state and city responds to it is quite frankly alarming to say the least. You would think because it happens so frequently, the authorities would have a fast-track plan to get the lights up and running as soon as possible but the outages just linger month after month after month. Maybe a call to the mayor's office, OG&E or ODOT might get someone's attention. FWIW, I called the city's action line to report the outage of the lights along Hefner Road along the north side of the Lake Hefner dam. "Not the city's responsibility. Call OG&E." I called OG&E and amazingly the (very nice) lady in customer service had no idea the lights were out. I can't believe the outage was not known by OG&E but, what do you do? I went ahead and received a case number and was told to check back in 10 days if I don’t see the issue being addressed.
    Why the hell can't OG&E and OKC get it together and actually do something about this? It's been talked about in Council meetings, by tons of people all over the internet, in real life, etc. Why is it being left up to individual citizens to report individual lights out in the massively sprawled out city? Does any agency actually give half a **** about it? If not, why not? What else can we do except just keep reporting lights that are out? I have much much better things to do with my life than to do OG&E's job for them, because honestly, there could be a dozen people working full-time (8 hours per day (or night)) for probably months, to report on all the lights out and then following up to make sure they're fixed.

    I've personally talked to my city councilman (not him, but his admin/point person) and that was around the time that it first came up with the guy that started reporting/noting them out downtown, and he basically said "yeah, it's a problem, I'll pass the info on" and then Couch, in a council meeting, said "yeah, we can pass on the info to OG&E when we get reports", and that was it. Apparently OKC has walked even that back, and give even less of a **** than they did when first notified of this huge problem.

    So, again, what can we make the city or OG&E do to make them do their jobs? Do we just give up and say "That's the way it's always been, always will be, deal with half-***ed infrastructure (as we do in so many cases - bike lanes, pavement striping/reflectors, sidewalks, crosswalk paint striping, ad nauseum)"? Or is there *any* chance, however small, of getting things right?

  5. #30

    Default Re: Copper Theft

    Quote Originally Posted by Hondo1 View Post
    I don't doubt copper theft is an epidemic but the way our state and city responds to it is quite frankly alarming to say the least.
    This is my issue.

    I understand copper theft happens everywhere but I can never remember driving a stretch of any road in California where I was struck by the darkness; no doubt because they generally fix these problems as they occur.

    I used to run a great deal after dark and I can assure you that there were always plenty of street lights.

    Also, I wasn't back here a month before I started remarking how hard it was to see on the roads here. I still can't believe that the exit to the OKC Boulevard as you head east on I-40 is 100% devoid of lights and has been for at least 2 years. It's incredibly dangerous and was shocked by it the first time I went that way at night. ODOT / the city is fully aware and has just said something about fixing it when the entire boulevard is complete. No matter that they will have been out by that time for 4 years or more.

  6. #31

    Default Re: Copper Theft

    Quote Originally Posted by Pete View Post
    Also, I wasn't back here a month before I started remarking how hard it was to see on the roads here. I still can't believe that the exit to the OKC Boulevard as you head east on I-40 is 100% devoid of lights and has been for at least 2 years. It's incredibly dangerous and was shocked by it the first time I went that way at night. ODOT / the city is fully aware and has just said something about fixing it when the entire boulevard is complete. No matter that they will have been out by that time for 4 years or more.
    That area has been dark since I moved back here in 2012. I always figured they were waiting for the boulevard to be completed before fixing it.

  7. #32

    Default Re: Copper Theft

    Quote Originally Posted by Rover View Post
    Then I guess it is a black eye for highway and city administrators all over the country. You act like this is isolated to OK. It is not.
    Another great post from Rover here to save the day with his “this happens in other states” response.

  8. #33

    Default Re: Copper Theft

    Quote Originally Posted by Rover View Post
    You may not have noticed, but it’s been a problem in California for over a decade.

    According to the NCIB, The five leading states for the thefts are Ohio, Texas, Georgia, California and Illinois.

    There are articles dating back at least 10 years about hundreds of street lights out in LA due to wire theft. And all over California.

    From the San Jose paper:
    Copper wire worth $460,000 stolen from Fremont, CA street lights

    “The The City of Freemont, CA has been hit hard over the past seven months. Copper theft is running rampant in California. “

    Articles can be found from all over CA and the world.
    I haven’t noticed it being an issue out here either, but it sure stands out in Oklahoma.

  9. #34
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    Default Re: Copper Theft

    Quote Originally Posted by Plutonic Panda View Post
    I haven’t noticed it being an issue out here either, but it sure stands out in Oklahoma.
    It’s been a problem in Cali for over a decade.

  10. Default Re: Copper Theft

    I reported several lights out this week to the city, as they are on traffic light poles and made that clear so they knew it the city's responsibility to check it, response was OG&E issue, but then assigned to traffic ops.
    I wish the state would fix the lights on the green overhead signs that have lights, I never see those lit up

  11. #36

    Default Re: Copper Theft

    Quote Originally Posted by OKCbyTRANSFER View Post
    I reported several lights out this week to the city, as they are on traffic light poles and made that clear so they knew it the city's responsibility to check it, response was OG&E issue, but then assigned to traffic ops.
    I wish the state would fix the lights on the green overhead signs that have lights, I never see those lit up
    I thought I had read that they're staying unlit because the reflectivity was good enough that they didn't need to spend the time/money maintenance-wise on them, and found this PDF that kind of supports that (for rural areas, definitely, but on-the-fence for urban):

    shorturl.at/cnoxV

  12. #37

    Default Re: Copper Theft

    Quote Originally Posted by Rover View Post
    It’s been a problem in Cali for over a decade.
    Whatever bro I live here and I don’t see as many lights out as I do in OKC. I ain’t tryna to talk about copper theft and whatever, I’m referring to the amount of lights out. All you ever seen to do is parade OK by your typical “other states have this problem too” crap. Seriously, Oklahoma is a great state that has a lot to offer, but trying to throw it in a league of states that have problems like Oklahoma does won’t help it. It doesn’t matter what benifits those states like Cali have, because I bet you Oklahoma doesn’t have them. Focus on making the state better, not getting pissed because others are pointing out issues.

  13. Default Re: Copper Theft

    Ah, cool, good point. I agree in rural areas, in the City, like at interchange areas, lights on. Thanks Plu Pan

  14. #39

    Default Re: Copper Theft

    So does anybody know if OG&E or OKC or ODOT is legally required to keep the streetlights lit? Anybody have any idea where I could start looking for OG&E's corporate charter, or whatever the hell would mention something like this (what OG&E is required to do)? Same question for OKC/ODOT? Wondering if the OCC would be a place to start to try to get some kind of traction/legal action going on to force this issue?

  15. #40

    Default Re: Copper Theft

    Quote Originally Posted by OKCbyTRANSFER View Post
    Ah, cool, good point. I agree in rural areas, in the City, like at interchange areas, lights on. Thanks Plu Pan
    I’ve noticed that in large California cities, they only light most freeways around interchanges. That’s it. I’m guessing it has to do with reducing light pollution or energy savings. But I drive around A LOT, and the lights they do have, almost always seem to be working even in construction zones with some exceptions.

  16. #41

    Default Re: Copper Theft

    My wife and I were up in Tulsa Wednesday night for the Tulsa Roughnecks vs Energy FC game and on the way back I noticed how much of their highway system is dark. I believe theirs to be even more dangerous because their interstate layout is like a pile of spaghetti and those darn left hand exits, haha.

  17. #42
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    Default Re: Copper Theft

    Quote Originally Posted by Plutonic Panda View Post
    Whatever bro I live here and I don’t see as many lights out as I do in OKC. I ain’t tryna to talk about copper theft and whatever, I’m referring to the amount of lights out. All you ever seen to do is parade OK by your typical “other states have this problem too” crap. Seriously, Oklahoma is a great state that has a lot to offer, but trying to throw it in a league of states that have problems like Oklahoma does won’t help it. It doesn’t matter what benifits those states like Cali have, because I bet you Oklahoma doesn’t have them. Focus on making the state better, not getting pissed because others are pointing out issues.
    I agree LA is mecca.

    OK is going through now what others have already gone through. They will figure it out, just as some others have. Of course, they should do a better job, but in the context of the remarks being made, I was pointing out that this is a bigger problem and lots of people are working on answers (shock an surprise, even in the golden state). Should we insist on doing better here, of course.

  18. #43

    Default Re: Copper Theft

    Quote Originally Posted by Rover View Post
    I agree LA is mecca.

    OK is going through now what others have already gone through. They will figure it out, just as some others have. Of course, they should do a better job, but in the context of the remarks being made, I was pointing out that this is a bigger problem and lots of people are working on answers (shock an surprise, even in the golden state). Should we insist on doing better here, of course.
    They don’t have to go through it though, that’s the thing. As I said I drive a lot for, mainly for recreational purposes, and do not see the as many lights out in most of the cities I frequent as OKC has. I don’t go to Tulsa much, so I wouldn’t know about them. I do know that other cities have found a solution and surely OKC could send someone to figure it out. I don’t know how that would work, but I’m sure it could be done.

    I also think the biggest issue is accountability, not copper theft. You will always have thieves and low life’s around destroying and stealing things, but it’s part of the game. Busting them is only part of it. As said, tons of other cities don’t have this problem so there has to be something they are doing different. There are smart technologies that can be implemented into street lights that alert the city or power company if a light has gone out or they train city workers to report burnt out lights. The electrical systems can be built differently to make it harder for thieves to get to the copper. Whatever the solutions are, they are there. Why should have to find them out when others already have?

    We’ll see how well OkDOTs “new and improved” lighting system they are building on the crosstown works as they claim it will have new technology that should prevent copper theft. Hopefully it works, but then there is the other issue of OGE and the city just telling people to report it via the OKC app or call the number which people shouldn’t have to do. It’s ridiculous and essentially places the blame on ordinary citizens not taking time out of their day to report something the city should already know about.

  19. #44
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    Default Re: Copper Theft

    LA is spending $65 million to fight the problem. Maybe we can do a Maps 5

  20. #45

    Default Re: Copper Theft

    Did copper thieves get the streetlights in the Paseo? Most of them have been out for the past couple of weeks.

  21. #46

    Default Re: Copper Theft

    Drove from downtown, following the Hamilton performance, got on to I-40 and the darkness on most of connecting routes from downtown is unreal. I understand strides are in place to improve this ongoing problem but dang....it's ridiculous how dark our downtown highway system is. Dangerous and a little bit embarrassing.

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