Silent Witness, CenturyLink ask for public’s help with increased copper thefts around Valley

PHOENIX — CenturyLink and Silent Witness asked for the public’s help in stopping the increase in copper thefts around the Valley during a press conference on Wednesday.

Sgt. Brian Bower with Silent Witness said the thefts aren’t just affecting Arizonans’ personal communication, but 911 and medical services as well.

“What we believe is a lot of these folks that are causing these thefts, these are people that are doing it often,” Bower said during the press conference. “These are people that we haven’t identified, but they’ve probably hit several of these pedestals and they’re repeat offenders. And that’s what we’re urging the communities help for is identifying who these people are, so we can put a stop to it at that point.”

What affect are these copper thefts from CenturyLink having?

Dan Chason oversees CenturyLink’s theft and vandalism program and said he fears the thefts are going to cause a death.

“Grandma’s going to fall and break her hip and she’s going to pick her phone up and it’s not going to work. And that is a tragedy,” Chason said at the press conference. “We need the community to come together and understand this. If you cut any of the cabling that CenturyLink provides, you can affect everyone needing any type of communication up to and including every major cell carrier out there, every provider, every bank, every hospital.”

Chason said that a single cable cut in Tacoma, Washington, shut down the port of Tacoma, a local hospital and a prison.

According to Chason, as of Wednesday copper loss in Phoenix has increased by 100% since last year.

He explained that some of the copper thieves will dress up like contractors, with an orange vest and hard hat, and put a generic cable company sign on their vehicle and pretend to be repairing the cable when in reality they are cutting and stealing it.

“If they’re not in one of (CenturyLink’s) trucks, they’re not our contractors,” Chason said.

He noted that CenturyLink also does not use ladders to access wires on telephone poles.

After stealing the cable, the thieves allegedly take it and burn it to get the casing off.

The price of copper has reportedly risen, contributing to the theft problem. However, Chason also attributed the thefts to organized groups who are looking to shut down the grid.

According to Chason, the price of copper is at $4 per pound, which means if the thieves steal 20 pounds copper they get $80 for it. However, Chason explained that to repair that cable it would cost CenturyLink $6,716.

He added that these cuts also cause a backlog for the CenturyLink technicians needing to fix them and increases the time it takes for customers’ problems to get addressed.

Chason emphasized the need for laws and legislation regarding copper sales.

“(The state of Minnesota) enacted a law where you cannot resell copper unless you have a license,” Chason said. “Our events in Minnesota went from 1.4 million losses in the fourth quarter of 2024 to less than three incidents when the law came into effect in January.”

Anyone with information regarding the copper thefts is asked to contact 911 or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS (948-6377) or 480-TESTIGO (837-8446) for Spanish speakers.

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