Shortly before midnight on May 26, 2015, a New York subway train lost power on a section of tracks in Queens. It isn’t uncommon for trains to malfunction in such a way, but when service personnel arrived, they discovered hundreds of feet of copper cabling were missing.


Rated by total track length and ridership, New York’s subway system is one of the largest in the world, far outranking the rest in total stations. It is home to hundreds of miles of electrified rail, which means tons of copper is exposed for thieves with the savvy and recklessness to take it.


As any electrical contractor knows, copper cabling can be heavy. That is why, in most cases, the thieves generally take it in small amounts. In the most recent incident, the thieves stole more than 500 feet of cabling, and, at approximately 8 pounds per foot, the thieves got away with more than 4,000 pounds of the valuable metal.


Speaking to The New York Times, New York Police Department Transit Bureau Chief Joseph Fox said the going rate for stolen copper is approximately $3.25 per pound. Copper prices have soared over the last decade, giving rise to a black market of thieves who sell the material to scrap yards. At the time of this writing, copper futures were at approximately $2.75 per pound. In 2000, they were around $0.60 per pound.


According to Fox, this was the 12th New York subway copper theft this year. He said most of the thefts have been of less than $1,000 worth of cable.


Crimes of this nature not only harm the agencies that have to replace the wiring and equipment that is damaged in the process of its removal but also the local communities. In this case, hundreds of thousands of commutes were delayed as the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) was forced to reroute riders to buses while maintenance crews replaced the stolen wire and damaged equipment.


According to the Times, the MTA has installed motion-activated infrared cameras in an attempt to combat copper thieves. Unfortunately, there were no cameras in this location.


Beyond replacing the stolen components and assisting the NYPD Transit Bureau in the investigation, the MTA faced other complications in providing service. Trains stored in a yard near the crime scene were trapped there and could not be used for service. Normally, the MTA would use nearby terminals to turn trains around, but they could not access those areas.


According to the U.S. Department of Energy, copper theft crimes cost $1 billion every year. Electrical contractors can help by contacting local authorities if they suspect a copper theft.