by WorldTribune Staff, June 2, 2024 Contract With Our Readers
Traffic lights at a busy intersection in Oakland were removed by the city government and replaced by stop signs.
The traffic lights had been repeatedly malfunctioning. The reason? Thieves, some believed to reside in a nearby homeless encampment, kept stealing the copper wiring from an electrical box that supplied power to the traffic lights.
The city initially placed large cement blocks as barriers to prevent thieves from accessing the electrical box, but the barriers were quickly removed.
“It’s just telling us that the city is giving up on us,” CBS News cited Tam Le, owner of Le’s Auto Body & Engine Repair, located at the corner of the intersection, as saying. “The city did try to fix the traffic light at least a few times. But once they fixed it, normally within a week or so, it will go out again. If you really want to fix the stop sign, I think you really have to clean up this homeless encampment.”
Local resident Mason Young said it was becoming extremely dangerous to drive through the intersection, noting that an accident recently occurred there.
“We gotta stop just putting band-aids on things. Although, a band-aid is better than bleeding out,” Young said.
Violent crime in Oakland increased 22% this year, according to the most recently available police data, which also show a nearly 10% increase in commercial burglary.
In September 2023, over 200 business owners shut down their stores to strike against the government’s handling of public safety amid rising crime. The protest was held days after city officials admitted to missing a deadline to apply for state funding to fight retail theft.
KTLA reported that Los Angeles city officials received over 11,000 calls regarding street lights going dark due to thieves stripping copper from light posts.
And now this: Oakland surrenders to copper thieves, removes traffic lights added by Editor Two on
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