LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – FOX5 has learned that there’s a backlog of repair requests due to copper thefts across the Las Vegas Valley, and that’s a factor for when your streetlight could get fixed.
FOX5 inquired into the situation across an entire neighborhood just south of Lamb Boulevard and Charleston Road. Several blocks clearly had no lights, or had spotty service.
A viewer named Sherlee emailed FOX5′s The Rant.
“Every street around my neighborhood has no lights because of copper theft. I’ve put in complaints to Clark County. We pay high taxes here in the Valley. It seems Clark County should make our lighting a little more prioritized,” she wrote.
FOX5 spoke to her by phone, and she said though there were some repairs months ago, the same lights are out again. She and others are concerned that the growing homeless population in the area is behind the thefts.
She said many leave their porch lights on to help, otherwise the streets would be in total darkness.
FOX5 has reported on the scale of the problem and efforts to ramp up police enforcement with a Valleywide copper task force. FOX5 has now learned, since 2022, 500,000 feet of copper wire has been stolen from Clark County street lights and other public works fixtures.
FOX5 asked county officials about a reasonable timeline for repairs, when residents submit claims to the FixIt app. A spokesperson sent FOX5 this statement:
“We have a lot of wire theft in this area of the Las Vegas Valley and are trying to address the outages as quickly as possible…The backlog we are experiencing in addressing the outages throughout the Valley is due to staffing shortages and ongoing theft. Supply chain issues that occurred during the pandemic also contributed to the backlog.”
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