Editorial: Will injured wire thief jolt Senate into action?

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee got a real-life example last week showing why it is essential for everyone’s safety to make wire and cable theft that results in an outage a felony.

The Democrats on the committee have balked at SB 28, which elevates the crime from larceny tied to the value of the wire, saying forcing thieves to go to jail and have a felony record would present disadvantaged folks with a hardship.

What do they call being hospitalized in an Albuquerque burn unit? Because that’s the end result for a man who tried to steal copper wire from the Tohatchi Electric Substation last week; he was first transported to the Gallup hospital by ambulance and then to one in Albuquerque with extensive burns to his body.

And what do they call doing without essential power in a remote community? Because that attempted theft resulted in a five-hour blackout for Tohlakai, Twin Lakes, Coyote Canyon, Tohatchi and from Buffalo Springs to Naschitti. They are the all-too-common results of what has become an all-too-common crime. Police say there were more than 600 such thefts in the Metro area last year alone, primarily involving drug abusers trying to support their habits.

The House has voted unanimously, 60-0, for the increased penalties in that house’s version, HB 57. So has the Senate Public Affairs Committee, 8-0, on mirror bill SB 28.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, and the Senate as a whole, should also do the proactive and humane thing and also vote to increase penalties when wire/cable theft results in an outage. That vote will help protect the public at large as well as thieves who would short-circuit safety for what they think will be easy money.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.