West Jordan Public Works Department has been working hard to stop copper theft in the city for quite

some time.

“The first thing we started to do to try to mitigate copper theft was installing aluminum wire whenever it was stolen,” said Public Services Department director Cory Fralick. “What we found is thieves would still break in the boxes and cut the wire to see that it’s aluminum, which would still cost us time and money.”

The city’s latest and most effective deterrent is a straightforward message for all to see. New steel plates covering street lighting wires across the city are stamped with the clear phrase: “No copper.”

“Through working with other cities, we found… putting these steel lids on top of it mitigates the vandalism,” Fralick said.

In addition to letting thieves know there is no copper to steal anymore, the locally designed and manufactured steel lid is sturdier and harder to break into than the previous green plastic lids to further deter theft.

Crews have installed about 100 of the “No Copper” steel lids since the early fall and plan to continue replacing the old lids with the new steel ones. 

Installs have been focused at “high hit areas” that have been frequently targeted by thieves in the past. Though the city is in the early stages of switching out the plates, Fralick and his department have seen great success with the initiative.

“We’ve noticed, over the last 18 months to two years, there’s been a trend of where they would operate from, or steal from, and so we started in those areas,” Fralick said. ”We’ve had 100% success in all those areas.”

High-hit areas are centered around new construction and development areas where wiring has been placed for future street lighting. The city is aware of this and monitoring these sites closely. 

City officials are also asking residents to keep an eye out in the dark hours when thieves tend to do their rounds to avoid
being seen.

Fralick said it’s very uncommon for his crew to work during the early morning or late night hours unless there is a particular high-priority situation. If circumstances require it, they try their best to be “well seen.”

“But a lot of times thieves are there in one single truck and an orange vest, trying to hurry and steal wire,” he said.

If residents see anything suspicious, the city’s public information officer Marie Magers said to call the nonemergency line at 801-844-4000.

“It is the best way to report,” Magers said. “We don’t want people to call 911 to tie up lines that are for
emergencies.”

Magers warned residents not to approach someone they suspect of stealing copper wiring, “Don’t do that, just call the nonemergency police line,” she said.

Crews will incrementally change out copper wiring for aluminum and plastic lids for steel throughout the city in phases as funds allow. λ