Copper Theft Spurs New Utility Force

Close-up of a police cars light bar with blue and red lights

As copper thieves plunge Los Angeles neighborhoods into darkness, city power officials now want their own gun-carrying police force—raising fresh questions about safety, costs, and who really controls public power in a city many already see as lawless and unaccountable.

Story Snapshot

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is asking for authority to create its own armed police force to fight copper wire theft.
The proposed force of 20–50 sworn officers would carry guns, make arrests, and investigate thefts, with costs ultimately falling on ratepayers.^[3]
Copper theft has already cost Los Angeles tens of millions, darkening streetlights and threatening critical infrastructure.^[1]^[3]
Critics question whether another armed agency is necessary when other, less militarized anti-theft tools already exist.^[1]^[4]

What LADWP Is Asking For — And Why It Matters

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is seeking authorization to create its own armed security force, with sworn officers who can carry firearms, make arrests, conduct searches, and investigate thefts.^[3] Officials argue that contracted, unarmed guards cannot detain suspects or intervene in crimes in progress, leaving copper thieves free to strip streetlights, substations, and other equipment.^[3] The agency frames the proposal as a direct response to persistent theft that is jeopardizing critical infrastructure and public safety.^[3]

The operational plan calls for starting with roughly 20 to 50 sworn officers over five years, plus support staff, forming a dedicated in-house security arm.^[3] Establishing this new police-style force would require amending the city charter, which means voters would decide the question on a future ballot.^[3] State legislative approval would also be required, injecting another layer of politics into what LADWP presents as a technical, infrastructure-protection issue.^[3] That structure raises alarms for residents already skeptical of expanding government power.

How Bad Is Copper Theft — And Who Pays?

Copper theft and related metal thefts have exploded across Los Angeles in recent years, leaving blocks of streetlights dark, disrupting emergency communications, and damaging water and transportation systems.^[1] Since 2020, repair costs in the city alone have exceeded $100 million, reflecting how thieves are targeting infrastructure everyone relies on.^[1] LADWP itself warns that electric or water theft and tampering are serious problems that cost utilities billions nationwide every year.^[3]

Local leaders have already responded with a patchwork of measures that confirm the problem is real. The City Council approved a standing reward program of up to $5,000 for information that leads to identification, arrest, and conviction of people involved in copper wire theft from streetlights.^[2] The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors separately ordered a coordinated countywide strategy to prevent copper and other metal theft, including infrastructure hardening and better data-sharing among law enforcement, utilities, and public works agencies.^[1] These steps show government knows the system is vulnerable—but also that it has favored multi-agency work over creating new armed forces.

Costs, Oversight, and the Risk of “Mission Creep”

LADWP estimates that rolling out its police department would cost about $9.7 million over three years, plus up to $6 million annually for staffing, which it says is less than the roughly $46 million it now spends each year on private security contractors and unarmed staff security.^[3] Any cost overruns, however, would be paid by LADWP customers through their utility bills.^[3] Critics question whether a force of only 20 to 50 officers can meaningfully protect thousands of miles of lines and facilities spread across a vast city.^[3]

Those critics also highlight a familiar pattern: when existing systems fail to stop crime, agencies reach for more armed power rather than fixing permitting, prosecution, or oversight failures. The Los Angeles public has already seen multiple government bodies—from county departments to school districts and the police department itself—rely on a mix of armed and unarmed contract security to protect specific facilities. LADWP’s move is different because it would create a new, permanent, in-house police-like entity, with its own culture, union dynamics, and potential for “mission creep” beyond copper theft.

Alternative Approaches and a Shared Distrust of the System

Elected leaders are simultaneously pursuing non-gun-based strategies that treat metal theft as an organized crime and data problem rather than a firepower problem. Mayor Karen Bass and state lawmakers have pushed legislation to crack down on organized metal theft rings and create a statewide law enforcement and information-sharing tool, linking public agencies and private partners.^[4] Separate city efforts include hardening infrastructure by encasing wire enclosures in concrete and, in some locations, exploring solar-powered streetlights that reduce the amount of copper on the poles.^[4]

For many residents—conservative and liberal alike—the core frustration is that basic government functions are breaking down while costs keep rising. Conservatives see “lawless Los Angeles” where theft goes unpunished and essential services fail, and wonder why citizens are not trusted to defend themselves while a city agency asks to “pack heat.” Liberals worry that yet another armed force, funded through utility bills, will expand state power without addressing poverty, addiction, or the scrap-metal market that fuels theft. Both sides share a deeper suspicion: powerful bureaucracies and political elites seem more interested in protecting their systems and contracts than restoring safe, lit streets at a fair price.