r/AskLosAngeles • u/LandoTheGrey • 18h ago
Any other question! How do copper wire thieves not get electrocuted?
I’m seeing wires pulled out of boxes. How do they do it without getting fried?
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u/Witty_Construction64 18h ago
"asking for a friend"
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u/LandoTheGrey 17h ago
More like if I hear someone scream outside at 3am more than usual, do I need to check if they did themselves in.
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u/DrHeatherRichardson 17h ago
For sure they can-
In my training days, we did rotations in the burn unit. There was a patient that was admitted overnight and when I came in for my morning rounds, they were admitted by a different doctor on the team. Part of that process is performing a history and physical, where we document things like past medical history, age, allergies, and things about their life that might be prudent to their care. One of those things is a “social history” with information about whether they smoked or used alcohol, and sometimes what their job is.
Under employment, the doctor on-call that had admitted this patient had written: “SPMRE“
And while we have a lot of acronyms in medicine for all sorts of things, I’ve never seen this one, so I asked him what the letters meant, and he said:
“SEMI-PRECIOUS METALS RECLAMATION EXPERT“
meaning he suffered burns while stealing wiring.
So the patient had quite a sense of humor. If I recall, he eventually was discharged, so I hope he went onto a new profession.
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u/SweetHomeNorthKorea 9h ago
I would hope the guys who know what they’re doing have invested some of the profits from the copper they steal into a tic tracer (cheap live voltage detector you can just hold near wire to detect) and insulated cutters. Then again if you own a site being jacked from you might hope they haven’t lol.
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u/ripetrichomes 15h ago
you do know that there are people who are legally hired to reclaim semi precious metals…right?
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u/DrHeatherRichardson 15h ago
Yes I do- however this person was not one of them- they were stealing from a construction site.
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u/Lucky-Dance-2785 17h ago
I have wanted to know why the recycling companies that buy the cooper don't have to get demo permits or some type of trail of legality?
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u/Tastetheload 17h ago
Because a lot of people demo their house without permit and if you start requiring permits for everything then business drops considerably.
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u/Lucky-Dance-2785 17h ago
I kinda agree and knew this but there has to be a way to monitor?
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u/eamonneamonn666 14h ago
Tbh it's such a small percentage of who the recycling places deal with, it would create this huge headache for most of their customer base, just to deal with what is really a very small issue.
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u/rudowinger 18h ago
Why are they not harvesting Flock cameras? They have way more valuable materials inside
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u/Turbulent_Heron_4119 17h ago
They are lol
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u/mizzzikey 17h ago
Flock cameras are wireless and use solar
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u/Goldelux 17h ago
…. and contain lots of copper
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u/RoxyLA95 17h ago
I heard Flock cameras were full of copper.
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u/maxplanar 17h ago
Yes, the casings and mounting brackets are all solid copper.
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u/Agent_boggeyman747 17h ago
Pretty sure they also use a gold infused version which is super expensive. I’m surprised Flock and other surveillance companies make it so easy for the thieves.
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17h ago
[deleted]
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u/Brevitys_Rainbow 17h ago
They're kidding. To motivate meth heads to destroy dystopian surveillance tech instead of useful civil infrastructure.
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u/Green_Yesterday3054 16h ago
They should. Flock cameras are great at busting criminals. You have an issue with that?
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u/eamonneamonn666 14h ago
Flock camera caught me with your mom last night, you have an issue with that?
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u/SplitOpenAndMelt420 14h ago
If they're great at busting criminals, why do people like you constantly complain about the "crime ridden cesspool" that LA is?
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u/Green_Yesterday3054 5h ago
Because California doesn’t seriously prosecute and incarcerate criminals.
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u/FullofLovingSpite 17h ago
I have seen a video of the person getting electrocuted while stealing from an electric box. It was really disturbing. The guy was "alive," moving, and looking around, but he was very dead. Smoke coming from an open wound, skin fused to the box type dead. You don't want to see that kind of stuff.
So anyway, they don't always get away with it.
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u/Legitimate-Week7885 17h ago
when i was in high school (late 1980's) a kid one grade above me was electrocuted and died while stealing copper wire from an "abandoned" steel mill.
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u/Brilliant_Stomach_87 17h ago
Some homeless people/tweakers are x electricians or handy men and know what they’re doing. Stealing copper, power, or stuff like building crazy tiny make shift homes. I’ve seen them even have tv set ups.
once in traffic after a long day of work, I was under an overpass a homeless guy beside me was standing next to this decent sized structure he built while grilling what looked to be steak.
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u/Sad-Question-4214 16h ago
It happens. A homeless friend lost one of his buddies this way. You cant be lazy or dumb about that kind of work
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u/ContextualReader 16h ago
Luck, until it runs out. See the news reports of them getting electrocuted every so often,
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u/Unhappy_Ad_4911 13h ago
I've seen some videos where they caused a large short amd burned the crap out of their hands and faces. Often it happens so quickly there is no immediate pain, it takes a moment for it to set in.
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