Cable Theft Down More Than 50% : Cox Amnesty Program Cuts Illegal Hook-Ups to System

Through an amnesty program for those who turn themselves in, Cox Cable San Diego has cut illegal hook-ups to its system by more than half, the company’s security manager said.

Chuck Peters estimated that, since Cox’s Theft of Service program began four years ago, illegal hook-ups have decreased from 65,000 to a current level of 30,000. The cable company loses about $10 million annually because of theft, the cost of which is ultimately reflected in customer rates.

Peters credited the decrease to the program’s guarantee of amnesty to those who inform Cox Cable that they have been illegally hooked up to the system and agree to pay for it from then on.

A recent federal law gives Cox Cable the right to sue those they have found to be stealing cable service.

“We don’t want to send anyone to jail for stealing cable, but we do want to let them know we consider it a serious matter,” Peters said. “Most of these cases we settle out of court for the cost of the cable service they received and a token penalty, around $100 or so.”

Peters acknowledged that stealing cable service is not viewed by the general public as the most heinous of crimes. But most people who have been caught were turned in by neighbors and friends upset that they were paying for something others were getting for free, he said.

“What we’ve found is that the honest-paying customer kind of resents those who are stealing it, especially the people who brag about it,” Peters said. “I mean, when a guy goes around bragging, ‘Why are you paying for that? I’ve hooked mine up for free,’ people get a little irritated.”

Other cable thieves are caught through Cox Cable’s sweep analyzer device, which Peters said are carried in company vans and can detect a cable hook-up that has been connected from the outside of an apartment or house.

“Sometimes we do find flagrant violations, like guys who have screwed up neighbors’ lines by hooking up their cable wrong,” he said. “Usually, though, we catch them by using the sweep analyzer after we’ve had a tip that they’ve hooked it up themselves.”

As a sign of the success of the program, Cox Cable will make a $4,000-plus donation to the Crime Victims Fund on Monday.

“This is the excess money collected from penalty fees beyond the cost of repairing damaged equipment and the program itself,” Peters said. “ . . . The reason why we chose this organization is because we are victims of cable theft and the general public is a victim of cable theft.”

Crime Victims Fund Director Ellen Taub said the donation was “very generous.”

“Most requests (from victims) are for food, rent, utilities, even new glasses when the old ones have been broken during an assault,” Taub said. “The majority of the awards are for $250 or under, so this donation has the potential to help a lot of people.”