At our February 9, 2022 meeting we had a presentation by Eddie Chavez, Bureau of Street Lighting, Division Manager who described the problem of wire theft and power theft in the city. This has been an increasing problem resulting in a significant backlog for repair. Although it is a crime, there has been very little in the news of anyone being charged with it. 

The Bureau of Street Lighting has developed several strategies to prevent further wire and power theft including burying wire pull boxes under concrete, welding handholes at the bottom of light poles shut and sealing pull boxes and hand holes with epoxy to make it significantly harder to access the wire. Also being discussed is all in one solar lighting panels that don’t need copper wire.

PRNC Public Safety Chair Becky Leveque reported that there was a significant problem with lights being out for some time on Reseda north of Rinaldi, on Wilbur north of Rinaldi and on Tampa north of Wilbur. She has been working with Councilmember John Lee's Office about the issue.

Eddie Chavez reported that the backlog for inspection and repair is 3-4 months and that there are currently 1,833 open incidents in the city, 200 of which are in Council District 12. An incident could be one light or a group of lights. He did not have any specifics about timeframes for the incidents discussed on Reseda, Wilbur or Tampa, however, a former Board Member and city employee mentioned more details that the issues on Wilbur are the result of wire theft, the issues on Tampa are because of a transformer and Rinaldi east of Reseda is the result of wire theft.

If you have a concern about street lighting, please report it to MyLA311 and you may also reach out to Councilmember Lee’s Office at 818 882 1212.

View the Mitigation Strategies Plan Presentation

Or watch it on the meeting replay video: