Minneapolis crews rewire 700 streetlights with aluminum in effort to stop copper theft

Minneapolis is shining brighter this spring. Crews have spent the last year fixing more than 700 broken streetlights.

For years, the sight of a dark streetlight was all too common in the city. Thieves stole the copper wire inside them for scrap metal money.

"It's crazy. It just blows my mind," Minneapolis resident Amanda Olson said.

Scrappers, at one point, took out lights near Olson's south Minneapolis home. She said the theft happened nearly six times.

Olson added that when the lights were out, cars on the street would be broken into. She said the safety concerns are why neighbors pushed for the lights to be turned back on as soon as possible.

City officials said, in total, they've swapped 700 lights from copper wiring to aluminum. Olson said she isn't sold on the effort.

"If someone's going to steal something, they're going to steal it regardless of what kind of material it is. That's just how I feel about it anyways," she said.

Minneapolis leaders say most of the lights that have been replaced across the city are along parkways and that a small number still need to be fixed.