Oakland residents blame homeless encampment for traffic light replacement due to copper theft

A California city has removed traffic lights at a four-way intersection as the city grapples with thefts attributed to a massive homeless encampment nearby.

Oakland faces a high rate of crime and theft, including people stealing copper wire and city infrastructure, according to residents who spoke to CBS News.

The city tried to stop criminals from tampering with its electrical boxes by placing cement barriers over them – to no avail.

Today, the city decided to remove traffic lights at a busy intersection and replace them with stop signs.

“It just tells us that the city is abandoning us,” Tam Le, owner of Le’s Auto Body & Engine Repair near the intersection, told CBS News. “If you really want to fix the stop sign, I think you really need to clean up this homeless encampment.”

The lights had been working intermittently for months because of criminals who tampered with the electricity and stole the wires, according to the report.

A local, Mason Young, said it was becoming extremely dangerous to cross this intersection and pointed out an accident that had recently occurred there.

“We need to stop putting band-aids on things. However, a bandage is better than bleeding,” Young said.

Violent crime in Oakland is up 22 percent this year, according to the most recent police data available, which also shows a nearly 10 percent increase in commercial burglaries.

In September, more than 200 business owners closed their stores to strike against the government’s handling of public safety amid rising crime.

The protest came days after city officials admitted they missed the deadline to request state funding to combat retail theft.

That same month, Oakland city leaders launched a grant program to allow small business owners to host events — like workout classes, musical performances and movie nights — to attract customers to local stores which have seen their footfall decline due to crime.

Oakland officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CBS News reported that the stop signs are temporary, but they currently have no timeline for when they will be able to restore traffic lights.