In an effort to limit the number of stolen street signs around the city, the Syracuse Department of Public Works is attempting to put the signs out of reach.

Raising the height of street signs to over 20 feet is just one a few ways the Syracuse Department of Public Works has tried to stem the flow of stolen signs. Pete O’Conner, commissioner of DPW, said that thousands of signs have been stolen since 2000, with an increase occurring in the past six years or so due to the influx of Syracuse University students in the East Neighborhood.

“Although we complained to SU around five years ago, the school told us that it wasn’t SU students taking the signs because they live with students from other schools,” O’Conner said.

DPW has had to attempt a number of different solutions to cut down on the number of stolen signs. O’Conner said they first tried a new kind of bolt to secure the signs to the metal poles, but whoever was taking the signs began taking the poles as well. Then the department started cementing the poles to the ground, but O’Conner said people would find a way to get the pole out of the ground.

“We even thought about greasing the poles at one time, but we eventually decided on putting the signs on telephone poles close to the intersections where they were being stolen from,” he said.

To date, O’Conner knows of only one steel pole that was built into the ground because no telephone pole was near a popular intersection for stolen signs. The pole was erected three years ago.

The ability to avoid possible dangerous situations is the main reason why new signs that replace stolen ones are positioned high into the sky, O’Conner said.

O’Conner said that it is dangerous when they lose the signs for a number of reasons.

“A lot of students, whether they’re from Syracuse or not, don’t know where they are around the SU neighborhoods,” he said. “It also becomes a safety issue for emergency personnel who don’t know the area. I don’t think the height is an inconvenience to lost drivers and emergency drivers know that we put them way up (high).”

Although the amount of stolen signs is in the thousands, O’Conner said he doesn’t believe that stealing street signs is a trend. He added that the thefts have been going on for years so it is nothing new.

On the contrary, Cullen Stubbs, a sophomore international relations and history major and Syracuse native, said he believes that the amount of stolen signs has picked up over the last couple of years.

“I think that putting the signs higher on the poles is close to a permanent solution to the problem,” Stubbs said. “However, I do think it would be a good idea to put cameras in to catch the people stealing the signs.”

Stubbs said he believes the height of the new signs is not an inconvenience to drivers because they can be seen at a distance while driving.

Giovanna Saccoccio, a freshman international relations and undeclared S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications dual major who was raised abroad, believes that putting the signs higher is a good solution to the problem.

“In Italy, there are cameras to catch everything, including people who steal street signs,” Saccoccio said. “Sometimes this is considered an invasion of privacy so it has become a popular debate in Italy.”

As a student who was raised abroad, but has family in Syracuse, she thinks that it would be confusing for anyone to know where they are if street signs were stolen near SU.

Published on September 9, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Katelyn: kmfaubel@syr.edu