On Tuesday afternoon, the Fort Worth Police Department’s Metal Theft Unit presented an informal report to city council members focused on metal thefts. According to Sgt. Anthony White, metal thefts continue to add up.
According to AT&T, the DFW area is ranked second highest in the United States for cable thefts.
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In a two-year comparison between Oct. 29, 2020 - Oct. 29, 2022, compared to Oct. 30, 2022 - Oct. 29, 2024, Fort Worth Police saw a 545% increase in reports of AT&T cable theft and a 53% overall increase in all metal theft.
“Not only does this impact home Internet, it impacts people with medical devices, critical medical devices at home, hospitals, post offices, and basically all facets of life to include your local coffee shop,” Sgt. White said. “When a metal thief disrupts critical infrastructure. It impacts not only city hall but hospitals, post offices and every facet of our life. This is a national trend. This is not just an impact here in Fort Worth.”
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Mayor Pro Tempore and District 5 City Council member, Gyna M. Bivens established a work group after her office saw a surge in complaints of internet disruptions. The report shows Fort Worth’s East Side leads in cases of both metal and cable theft.
“At one point, I had one neighborhood without internet service for more than two weeks, and that was totally unacceptable,” Bivens said. “It's affecting not just the city of Fort Worth and not just the city of Dallas. It's happening nationwide. People are stealing copper. And when you depend on your internet to have your virtual doctor's visit, that's more (important) than you have to check your TikTok or your social media. It impacts your life.”
The thefts have cost providers including Spectrum and AT&T millions of dollars.
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“The cost to AT&T and other providers is tens of millions of dollars, not just in the replacement cost, but in the restoration cost,” Michael Peterson, AT&T Assistant Vice President – External Affairs said. “More importantly to us, it's not so much the cost to AT&T as it is the cost to our customers in terms of their lives and their livelihoods that are at risk when these networks are vandalized.”
“We know that this is driven in large part by the increase in the value of copper. Just last year alone, the price increased by nearly 25%,” Peterson continued.
AT&T recently introduced cash rewards for information on metal thefts that lead to an arrest and now are working to draft a bill with the help of Fort Worth PD.
“The introduction of legislation that will address this issue as well, that will raise penalties, but will also give them the tools that they need in order to apprehend and secure convictions,” Peterson said.
According to the report, the State legislation initiative, “includes the introduction of new laws to strengthen legal frameworks, the implementation of stricter regulations to govern the metal recycling industry, and the establishment of more severe penalties for individuals who are repeat offenders.”
On Tuesday, Sgt. White also highlighted the proactive approach with metal recycling facilities.
“Most of the management of these recycling entities here in Fort Worth, they want to work with law enforcement to help make us a safer city and to identify thieves,” Sgt. White said.
NBC 5 reached out to several metal recycling companies including Commercial Metals Company or CMC.
According to a spokesperson for CMC, they follow the requirements for the State of Texas as well as those of the counties/municipalities in which they operate.
“When purchasing material our facilities require proof of ownership of the material, description/license plate of vehicle, driver license, digital photograph of material, digital photograph of supplier and thumbprint impression,” CMC said in an email. “At the end of each day, our facilities upload this information through Leads On Line that is accessible by the local Police Department Metal Theft Units.”
AT&T has also identified employees trained to respond to cases of cable theft.
“The Real Time Crime Center will call and say, ‘Hey, we've got this right now in progress.’ On the other line, we're getting Spectrum or on the other line, we've got AT&T. So, it is truly a collaborative effort,” Sgt White said. “We’re putting up cameras all over the city so that we can identify these crimes in progress so that we can respond effectively.”
Sgt. White would also like to help create a coordinated effort between all police departments in North Texas.
“I would love for all of our chiefs of police regionally to get together and be able to establish a regional task force to combat this,” Sgt. White said.
On Sunday morning, Arlington Police responded to a shopping center in the 700 block of E. Road to Six Flags Street for a burglary.
“The security team at the shopping center told officers a man had broken into a vacant retail space and stolen wiring and other metal from inside,” a spokesperson for Arlington PD said in an email to NBC 5. “Officers found a man matching the suspect description nearby along N. Center Street… While they were searching him, they found cutting tools as well as wiring / metal consistent with what was stolen from the shopping center in a backpack he was carrying.”
The suspect was charged with several crimes including Theft of Material < $20,000.
Sunday’s arrest, according to Arlington PD marks the third arrest related to metal thefts this year.
“We’ve been working with other law enforcement across the state to model their units on the basis of what Fort Worth has done,” Peterson said.
AT&T currently works directly with Houston and Dallas. According to AT&T, Dallas has more wire theft reported than any other part of DFW.
To report suspicions of metal theft activity, tipsters with information can remain anonymous and should call local law enforcement and AT&T Global Security & Investigations at (800) 807‐4205.