San Jose city officials are working to address the growing problem of thieves targeting streetlights as a source of copper wire.
The copper wire thefts have left several neighborhoods in the dark, which has forced the city to hire more repair crews.
"Well first I have heard that in this area there's a lot of break ins," said Thao Tran, who lives on Valley Vista Drive -- a neighborhood recently hit by copper wire thieves. "So that kinda worries the people who live around here in the dark."
The city reports a backlog of 1,400 work orders to fix street lights -- a problem authorities hope to fix by the end of the fiscal year.
But the thefts have also caused some repairs that are expected to take up to six months.
"We actually tripled our investments that we allocate to repair these locations," said Diane Milowicki, San Jose Department of Transportation.
Milowicki said the city three years ago would see an average of 10 to 15 locations needing street light repairs. This year the city is seeing about 40 to 50 incidents per month, according to Milowicki.
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The city's Department of Transportation helped police arrest several suspects in June for buying and selling stolen copper wire. San Jose's public works department is now trying to make it hard to get to the wire by installing proof-locking metal lids.
The dark streets are also a safety concern for residents.
"At night time you may park your car on the side of the street and people pull in, they don't see you," Tran said. "They may hit us. It's a safety issue. Yes a safety issue."
