It's been months since a swath of Hancock Park lost its streetlights, and it will be several more months of what residents say are “black” streets and prowling thieves before there is a solution.
So the neighbors have been improvising.
Last fall, copper thieves looted about a dozen public streetlights on three city blocks, leaving their neighborhood in the dark.
A walk down Orange Drive feels treacherous, like “something out of the 'Twilight Zone,'” one resident said.
“We've had car break-ins. We've had break-ins. It just feels dangerous,” added owner David Barlag.
A solar-powered light attached to a non-working streetlight illuminates a section of sidewalk near Orange Drive in Hancock Park. (Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times)
The thefts were reported to the city's Department of Public Works in October, but residents were given nine months for repairs.
To make matters worse, repair times could be further delayed after looters cleared out a city storage yard that housed a large number of spare cables, Harris Cho, a senior officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, said at a recent meeting of the Wilshire Neighborhood Council.
“The actual warehouse that has all the types of cables and wires that we need to fix these lights… was broken into and all of that stuff was stolen,” said Sixto Sicilia of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council.
Neither the Los Angeles Police Department nor the Department of Public Works returned calls seeking comment.
So some Hancock Park residents, faced with a nearly year-long wait before their streets emerge from the darkness, have tried to find their own solutions. The homeowners pooled their money to buy and place makeshift solar-powered lamps on unused light poles.
1. Functional streetlights near Orange Drive in Hancock Park. (Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times) 2. A solar-powered light attached to a non-working streetlight illuminates a section of sidewalk near Orange Drive in Hancock Park. (Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times)
Although they are of some help, visibility remains poor, Barlag said.
The problem is not unique to Hancock Park. It is notorious that the theft of cables left the 6th Street bridge in the shadows months after its opening to the public. And at Pico Union, the pedestrians were stolen at gunpoint by assailants emboldened by the darkness of the night.
These thefts can also seriously impede 911 and other telecommunications emergency systems. Last year, copper wire thieves were suspected of cutting off telephone line service to Seniors in South Los Angeles. The following month, the thieves caused widespread internet service outages that affected swaths of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Requests for electronic services for street lighting repairs in Los Angeles have skyrocketed in recent years, according to data from the Office of Street Lighting.
The city recorded 14,328 requests for electronic street lighting service in 2018. Requests have skyrocketed since then, reaching an all-time high of 46,079 in 2024, the last full year with data available. In the first months of 2025, Los Angeles neighborhoods reported unprecedented failures in public lightingmainly due to theft and vandalism.
“Neighbors suffer robberies quite frequently. Having the streets so dark is even more dangerous,” Sicilia said. “We've had situations where burglars are actively breaking into homes, with people walking by and no one has noticed.”
Residents now take turns patrolling the neighborhood in an effort to deter crime on their own terms. Many also installed camera systems and burglar alarms. Others pay for private, armed security companies that they believe will respond more quickly to security calls than law enforcement.
A solar-powered light installed by local resident David Barlag is connected to a non-working streetlight near Orange Drive in Hancock Park.
(Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times)
Last year, lawmakers passed legislation regulating scrap metal recyclers in an effort to curb the illegal trade. Signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in October, Assembly Bill 476 increases penalties for thieves and requires scrap metal dealers to compile detailed records verifying the seller's identity and proof of ownership.
Between the installation of electricity and private security, some neighbors feel that they are doing the City Council's job.
“I'm paying $1,000 a month in taxes on my house. What do I get for my $1,000?” -Barlag asked. “The city is not providing services, and if they are, it's just the finger in the dam.”
