Drones assist investigators in copper theft incident in St. Paul

Police in St. Paul, Minnesota, say extra eyes in the sky helped them catch copper thieves red-handed, and the arrests were made using their Real Time Information Center. 

Officers launched drones to help locate the alleged thieves faster than officers could have on foot.

Near Arcade Street and Maryland Avenue, the tampering is apparent.

"It's very challenging," said Senior Commander Ryan Murphy with the St. Paul Police Department. "We make multiple arrests a month related to these situations."

Photos provided by the St. Paul Police Department show what went down on Sunday.

Murphy says officers were monitoring parts of the Payne-Phalen neighborhood when they saw a pole prepped for what was to come.

"Three individuals approached the wire and then actually pulled the wire out of the ground," said Murphy.

Something that was spotted via drone.

"They couldn't stand out in squad cars, so they asked the Real Time Information Center, which we started June 1 to monitor that intersection," added Murphy.

WCCO got to see inside the monitoring hub, which is a command center-style room inside the agency's headquarters where drones are controlled from, if needed.

"The drone flies there autonomously," said Murphy. "It's flying at 45 mph as the crow flies."

In the scenario on Sunday, one man fled on foot. Drones were even able to keep a visual on him and share location with the officers.

"We're concerned about how they're used to make sure people have any right to privacy at all," said Meredith Aby, who organized a drone protest in St. Paul earlier this month. "I have just had many examples of people who saw drones go after their neighbors during Operation Metro Surge."

Police say there are guardrails to protect privacy, and that video not part of a case is destroyed within seven days. 

"These technologies are no good to us if we don't have the public's trust," said Murphy.

Friday's market rate for copper is roughly $6.50 per pound. Officers took the three men into custody and recovered a gun on the one who ran. They all remain behind bars.

St. Paul Public Works provided the following statement to WCCO in regard to repairing the street lights:

"Saint Paul Public Works has been doing repair work on street lights in the public right of way all year as the schedule allows. The past few weeks, Public Works electricians have been doing additional weekend work throughout the city, focusing only on street light repairs.

"We know this situation is extremely frustrating for our residents and staff. We continue to work with all city departments, the Mayor's Office, and city councilmembers to address the issue from all angles. Public Works continues to repair street lights as we are able and will do so until the conduits freeze for the winter. We greatly appreciate the extra eyes on our street lights from residents to help deter theft and report suspicious behavior around street lights."