ELKTON, Md. — To most of us, they're just cables hanging from a utility pole. To thieves, they're cash.
Copper theft has become an almost daily problem for Verizon crews in Cecil County, where thieves are cutting telecommunications lines, disrupting phone and internet service and leaving behind damage that can take hours or longer to repair.
Now, a new Maryland law taking effect October 1 is designed to make stolen telecommunications equipment harder to sell and add penalties for damaging the infrastructure.
WMAR-2 News' Mallory Sofastaii recently joined Verizon crews in Elkton, where pieces of cable remained hanging after a recent theft.
"You can see down there where the cable comes down off the pole. That is likely what was left after they finished stealing whatever cable they wanted," Verizon local manager Greg Miller said.
Miller said his technicians are dispatched to theft-related trouble in the area at least five times a week.
"We might fix it here today and they move up a couple hundred feet to the next pole and cut there," Miller said.
Miller said thieves can pull up in a vehicle, cut the cable and leave in an hour or less. Repairing the damage can take much longer.
Verizon is transitioning more of its network from older copper lines to fiber optic cable, but Miller said thieves don't always know the difference.
"The thieves often can't tell the difference between the two, and they'll cut both," Miller said. "Once they open it up, they realize it's not copper, and they'll leave it there, but the damage is already done."
Fiber can also be painstaking to repair. Miller said a single cable can contain upwards of 200 individual glass fibers, each about the size of a strand of hair, that may have to be fused back together nearly one at a time.
The repeated repairs also pull Verizon technicians away from expanding the company's fiber network, Miller said.
Verizon argues the potential payoff for thieves has not always matched the consequences of the crime.
Paul Plymouth, Verizon's director of state government affairs and local engagement, pointed to a recent Cecil County case in which he said one person caused nearly $100,000 in damage while making hundreds or potentially thousands of dollars from the stolen material and ultimately serving 16 days.
"If there's no reason to disincentivize what's happening, it will continue, and the numbers show it too," Plymouth said.
READ MORE: Copper thieves keep knocking Cecil County residents offline
In addition to adding physical security, Verizon has been working with law enforcement and lawmakers.
A new Maryland law taking effect October 1 will add protections specifically targeting telecommunications equipment and infrastructure.
Senator Carl Jackson sponsored SB 782, the Senate version of the legislation. Its cross-file, HB 1100, passed the General Assembly and was signed into law earlier this year.
"Copper thefts are not victimless crimes," Jackson said. "When lines are cut, entire neighborhoods, families, and businesses suffer as a result in terms of access to phones and internet services."
The new law makes it harder for someone to sell telecommunications equipment to a junk dealer or scrap metal processor without demonstrating lawful authority to do so.
It also adds reporting and recordkeeping requirements for dealers, requires payment for covered telecommunications equipment to be made by check mailed to the seller's address, and generally requires the material to be held for 30 days before it can be sold or disposed of.
The law also creates a specific misdemeanor for recklessly or willfully and maliciously damaging telecommunications infrastructure. A violation is punishable by up to six months in jail, a $500 fine or both.
Jackson said the intent is to make it more difficult for thieves to profit from stolen copper and other telecommunications equipment. He also plans to share the legislation with surrounding states in hopes of creating more consistent protections across state lines.
For Verizon, the goal is ultimately fewer damaged lines and fewer customers knocked offline.
"The reliability of our service is really the most important thing," Verizon Senior Director Jasmine Pierce said.
When asked about Verizon's emphasis on reliability, Pierce acknowledged the challenge repeated thefts create.
"We're reliable," she said. "We're reliable until they come and take the cable."