Wire Theft Trends and Mitigations: A Conversation

Wire theft is a growing problem across the U.S., and demand for copper has created a market for thieves to target critical infrastructure. Public transit agencies have reported an increase in copper wire thefts, causing economic loss and creating disruptions to train service.

APTA hosted a peer exchange discussion on the challenges associated with copper thefts in November. The discussion included representatives of APTA’s Power, Signals & Communications Technical Forum, Sergeant Joe Coskey from the Amtrak Police Department, and NJ TRANSIT Police Detective Ruben Mendez. The conversation examined the countermeasures public transit agencies can take to address this problem, highlighted security measures, and increased collaboration with other stakeholders and development of law enforcement partnerships.

“Whether a transit agency has experienced theft or not, rail systems use a high amount of copper, and theft is a constant threat to both the critical infrastructure that keeps passengers safe, as well as the financial burden it places on organizations to warehouse specialty cables and replace them when thefts do occur,” noted Daniel Tinsley, deputy chief engineer–RLE, at the Chicago Transit Authority and chair of the Power, Signals & Communications Technical Forum. “The webinar used real information to show the prevalence of copper wire thefts and how transit agencies can be the victim.”

Countermeasures discussed included:

• Positioning plain clothes police officers on the right-of-way
• Deploying surveillance / trail cams
• Collaboration with other law enforcement partners
• Working with scrap yards
• Employee training (proper storage of equipment, etc.)
• Use of “See Something – Say Something.”

After the webinar, the group allotted time for an open discussion to share methods used by agencies to mitigate copper wire theft and share information about what suppliers could do to meet added security requirements that have been imposed in product specifications. It was noted that a key challenge to stopping wire theft is convincing local authorities to prosecute wire theft perpetrators.