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RB warned to watch for cable thieves
by George Wiley
The former head of security for Century Cable has warned Redondo Beach this week to protect itself against cable thieves as it continues negotiations with Century's successor, Adelphia Communications Corp.
Steve Switzer, 53, a retired Los Angeles County deputy sheriff, who for four-and-a-half years served as head of security for Century Cable, said this week that an estimated 13 to 16 percent of those with cable services are getting them illegally by tapping into existing cable lines to hook up homes and apartments without the cable company's knowledge.
"If 13 percent are stealing cable that's 13 percent of what the city should get under a franchise agreement based on the number of cable customers," Switzer said.
But Switzer, who is the son of former Manhattan Beach city councilman and mayor, Bill Switzer, said the cable companies won't attempt to corral thieves unless cities force them to do it. That's because cable companies lose money on efforts to prevent theft.
Switzer said he was "downsized" out of his job at Century after the cable company realized it was paying more to control theft than it was costing to let the theft go undetected. "We had two or three pretty good cases in Redondo that actually brought in $4,000 to $5,000 to Century," Switzer said. But he said the eight investigators he had on staff cost Century more than was collected.
"The security department is overhead," he said. "The theft is not a hard dollar loss to the cable company. But it is a hard dollar loss to the city."
Switzer said that the cable company suffers no reduction of its income flow from cable thieves, but the city does lose income because the thieves are never counted in the numbers of those receiving cable services. It's cities that must protect their own interests against thieves, said Switzer, when they negotiate franchise agreements with cable companies.
Adelphia probably won't spend the money to go after cable thieves unless the city "forces them into it," Switzer said.
Negotiations between Adelphia and the city are continuing over whether the city should award Adelphia the franchise previously held by Century. Redondo mayor Greg Hill at one point accused Adelphia of fraud for not getting Redondo's approval before completing its mega-deal to take over Century's operations on the West Coast involving dozens of cities' cable operations.
Most of the cities involved approved the franchise transfer before the takeover became finalized. But Redondo was overlooked in the process. Switzer said Redondo should quit attempting to leverage concessions from Adelphia for that oversight and settle and approve a franchise.ER