A recent increase in copper thefts in Prince George and the surrounding area has left communications giant Telus concerned.
Telus has experienced a 68 per cent increase in copper cable thefts across Canada from January to the end of July this year.
Compared to the same period last year, there were 11 copper thefts in BC; however, in the past week alone, Prince George and the surrounding area have had four copper thefts in total.
These four thefts resulted in 169 wireless devices being affected and 110 landlines losing service in Prince George and the surrounding area.
Two of these incidents occurred in the Fraser-Fort George area, with two happening in Prince George proper.
These are also problematic due to the complexity of the repairs and the cost associated with doing so.
Anne Martin, vice-president of network engineering and operations at Telus, spoke to The Citizen about the possible dangers of thefts like these.
“In the cases of the copper theft that we're seeing with our telecom specifically, you can leave people with the inability to call 911,” said Martin. “You can imagine seniors living alone, they're in care homes, they can’t reach their loved ones just through their phone line. That's been disconnected.
“They can't reach their families. They can’t reach emergency responders. Sometimes businesses can't process their payments. They can't fulfill online orders. Students can't do their classes. It can disrupt services like hospital systems and alarm lines. It's pretty dramatic when thieves take advantage of the copper. Sometimes, depending on the complexity of that theft, the repair times can be quite extended tonight, leaving people stranded for long periods.”
She noted that another significant issue is often the prosecution for these crimes when criminals are caught, as often these thefts result in losses under $5,000, leading to reduced sentences.
“In Canada, the punishment doesn't fit the crime. Copper, it's often like being charged with after $5,000, which is like stealing a bicycle … the punishment is not very severe. And the impact is huge,” she said.
She explained that she has seen thieves go to extreme lengths to steal copper cable from Telus locations, including dressing in work clothing and putting themselves in close contact with dangerous and possibly fatal electrical wires.
In order to protect these installations, Martin is planning on increasing security and collaborating with local officials.
“We spend a lot of time trying to reinforce our infrastructure,” said Martin. “We'll install alarms, we'll go up and then we'll shut, we'll put up special life fencing, security cameras, etc., anything to mitigate these thefts. We work with the police to investigate all the thefts. We urge the public to stay vigilant … The biggest thing is, we need broader collaboration for enforcement and deterrence — collective collaboration on that as well — and we've had a lot of success with the public seeing and reporting if they see something to the police or even through anonymous tips or Crime Stoppers.”
Prince George RCMP are also concerned with this recent rise in copper thefts, and Sgt. Craig Douglass emphasized that these crimes tend to emerge in patterns.
“It's not unheard of, it's certainly been an issue and it goes up and down,” said Douglass. “We get spikes of it from time to time, where we'll get a bunch of copper hits, and then either we put the people in jail, or they just cool off and move on to something else, and then we get dips again. Then it cycles back up — just like some other crimes.”
This recent spike is not the first the city has seen this year, as in February, copper thefts resulted in a total loss of $25,000 in repair costs. However, these thieves were primarily targeting streetlights and pulling out underground wiring.
Douglass noted a few ways that the RCMP can track down this stolen copper.
“We are working with a new bylaw manager down at the city, Kent MacNeill,” said Douglass. “There's a bylaw in place for pawn shops and metal recyclers to participate in the RAPID program, which is a computer program that monitors and tracks all that stuff. One of the things that we're planning to do with the City of Prince George is to do checks and compliance checks with these various places. But in fairness, if somebody comes in with copper, it's pretty hard to prove where it came from. It might help us identify suspects and other things, but ultimately that's something that we're working with the City of Prince George to do.”
MacNeill, in a statement, elaborated on the situation and the role the bylaw division plays in it.
“The City of Prince George does not have a bylaw regulating metal buying/selling. That said, the bylaw division does enforce business licences and works with the RCMP on licensing, should police find a dealer operating in contravention of the Metal Recyclers Act or without a proper business licence,” he said.
Thankfully, the city has stated that copper thefts from light poles have been down since the thefts in February, thanks to the city's utilities team installing tamper-resistant bolts and other security measures in problem areas and on all newly installed streetlights — which has hampered tampering and brought down the number of lights damaged in the city.
Douglass emphasized that often these thieves are desperate, as it takes a lot of work and effort to obtain usable and sellable material.
“It's desperate people doing desperate things,” said Douglass. “If they can profit from it, they will. There's a lot of effort that has to take place to steal copper, and especially if it's insulated, then they have to remove the insulation, do all that, which is a lot of work. But if they can get something from it, then it will be worth it for them.”
If you have any information about recent copper thefts or see any suspicious activity, please contact the Prince George RCMP at 250-561-3300 or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
