STOCKTON, Calif. — San Joaquin County now leads the nation in copper wire theft, according to Supervisor Steve Ding
Law enforcement and city officials from Lodi and Stockton held a press conference Wednesday to discuss their response.
In many of the cases, Ding says thieves are targeting the copper wire inside of fiber optic cables — a critical piece of communications infrastructure.
"It's something that we don't want to be number one on," said Ding, noting at least 48 fiber lines have been cut across the county in the last four days. "Those lines are being burnt down and taken to recycling areas and processed and the money is going back out for drug purchases, etc."
San Joaquin County Sheriff Pat Withrow says the problem is not only impacting people trying to make calls or use the internet, but also first responders.
"They cut what they thought were copper lines, but they ended up being the 911 communications that put all of our citizens in our area in jeopardy," said Withrow. "We were fortunate for Stockton PD, we were able to transfer calls to them. But you know, it's just a danger and so irresponsible and they need to be held accountable."
A lack of accountability is part of what Withrow says has caused wire thefts to proliferate, increasing by 139% in the county in the past four months.
He's calling on state lawmakers to implement harsher penalties for copper wire thieves. County lawmakers say they are considering new ordinances to target thieves and the cars they use.
"There is no incentive, no deterrent that is out there that stops these criminals from committing this act if they know they're not going to be held accountable," said Withrow. "It's a nonviolent crime, so they immediately get released back out, and they go do it again."
Another piece of the puzzle is the recycling centers trading thieves cash for stolen copper, Withrow says.
He and representatives from the Stockton Police Department, Lodi Police Department and the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office say they will begin looking into recycling centers possibly buying stolen wires.
"It's difficult to combat it when we have recycling centers that are not being held accountable and are accepting this wire when they know it's stolen," said Withrow. "We're going to be talking about installing cameras, as many as we can, throughout our county."
Meanwhile, leaders at AT&T are hoping the public will step in to help authorities curb the thefts.
"We are proud to introduce this $5,000 reward for information on specific details and information around copper theft and the sale thereof in San Joaquin County," said Brandon Baranco, area manager for AT&T. "This vandalism has caused damage to our communication infrastructure, which has affected our public safety apparatus and our community."
The reward is valid until May 1, 2024, for some information reported to 800-807-4205.
"It has to end. We have to make sure that again, our critical infrastructure is protected," said Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln. "If you've seen something, it's absolutely important that you say something. This is our community. This is our region."
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