Philadelphia youth sports programs feeling impacts of copper thefts: "Kind of makes you angry"

Philadelphia police are investigating a rash of copper thefts at city parks that has disrupted youth sports programs and cost the city millions of dollars in repairs.

During a news conference, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation officials said thieves have stolen copper wire from hundreds of streetlights over the past year at Hunting Park, Bartram's Garden and other locations.

Thieves have even broken into abandoned city buildings to remove copper wire.

The North Philly Aztecs, a nonprofit football program for children ages 5 to 14, is now feeling the impact. The team had to practice in the dark Friday night after wire was removed from the park's street lights.

With only one light working, 12-year-old Ryan Barnes said he did not feel safe.

"I feel like, kind of upset because I feel the kids out here need to have lights out here when we have practice," Barnes said.

Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Mike Cram said the disruption is especially frustrating for a program with a strong track record.

"These guys [the North Philly Aztecs] are perennial national champions and the fact that somebody doesn't care about anybody but themselves, and wants to do something to affect these kids, kind of makes you angry," Cram said.

North Philly Aztecs head coach Richard James said the thefts affect more than just the team.

"We need this copper out here and people running down here taking this stuff from these kids and ultimately at the end of the day, it's impacting, you know, the entire community," James said.

The Philadelphia Department of Streets is taking several steps to protect its infrastructure, like installing anti-theft hardware, adding software alerts for tampering and moving cables to the tops of street light poles.

"We are also switching to aluminum cable, with approximately the fifth of the value of copper," Streets Commissioner Kristin Del Rossi said. "This significantly reduces the incentives to target our infrastructure."

City officials are asking residents to report suspicious activity and urging scrap yards to be on the lookout for stolen copper. 

Despite the setback, Barnes said he remains focused on his team and its goals.

"It's a really good organization, a really good team," Barnes said. "We have the best coaches out here and I just want my team to be successful and go to the natty and win it all," he said.

City officials said they are working to keep the thefts from disrupting more parks and programs.