By JOSE HERRERA
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to establish a reward program for individuals who report information regarding copper wire thefts, and to create a task force that will prioritize the crimes in the 14th District.
Members voted 13-2 on the motions after a debate that featured much frustration about the proliferation of copper wire thefts impacting city infrastructure, including street lights, and even statues and plaques.
Council members Eunisses Hernandez and Hugo Soto-Martinez voted against the motions.
“I don’t think there’s anyone around the horseshoe that hasn’t been impacted by the rapidly growing problem of copper wire theft in the city of Los Angeles,” Councilman Kevin de León said prior to the vote. De León co-authored the motions with members John Lee and Traci Park.
De León said the thefts have escalated at an alarming rate from just five years ago, from about 500 to 600 cases to a staggering 6,842 cases, costing the city well over $20 million despite officials “tripling” funding for the issue.
“Nothing has revealed more than the extent to which criminals will go than the brazen theft of copper wire from our very own Sixth Street Bridge,” the councilman said. “The thieves received a street value of $11,000, however the estimated cost to the taxpayers will be $2.5 million to repair the bridge and bring the lights back on.”
The driving force behind the surge of copper theft, he says, is the metal’s value in the market.
De León’s first motion instructed the Los Angeles Police Department, City Attorney’s Office, Bureau of Street Lighting and the City Clerk to file recommendations to establish a standing reward offer for information resulting in the identification, apprehension and conviction of copper wire thieves and those guilty of street-light vandalism within the city.
His second motion instructed the LAPD and Bureau of Street Lighting to create a Copper Wire Task…
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