Copper thefts are not a rarity in the Los Angeles area, but one neighborhood seems to have been struck disproportionately hard.
Residents of Pico Union tell KTLA that their street lights have been off for seven months due to the wire thefts.
Since the December thefts, the lights have been inoperable, creating an unsafe environment, neighbors say.
The office of City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, 1st District, said in a statement to KTLA’s Kimberly Cheng that though this is a citywide issue, she has been working to alleviate the problems for her constituents and all Angelenos.
“Right now, Los Angeles spends less than one percent of its budget on the Bureau of Street Lighting, resulting in repair delays of over six months for broken street lights,” the statement said. “Councilmember Hernandez believes this is unacceptable and has fought so hard to right-size the City’s budget and better fund neighborhood services so that our constituents are not left waiting for months for safely lit streets.”