Connecting the Disconnected Dots

By Melinda V. McLain

As a pastor with a social justice mindset, I am always seeking to understand the connections between poverty, lack of opportunity and education, crime, and social problems such as drug addiction, mental illness and homelessness. And it may be that my own privilege as a well-educated middle strata white woman colors my thinking, but still I wonder: what sort of desperation coupled with addiction leads folks into lives of violence and thievery? And why is our society completely unable to do anything about it? Seriously, American “know how” is legendary, but apparently unable to address the most basic problems amongst our citizenry. Because I have now joined a long line of crime victims, I have some more data points to consider.

On or about Sunday, June 12th, 2022, copper wire thieves broke into our construction site and stole or disabled ALL of our rough electrical wiring, conduit, and junction boxes plus the boiler and plumbing parts for our floor radiant heat system. They also disabled and stole our security system and cameras and our cloud backup failed. The financial loss is well over $120,000 and even if our insurance claim is successful, we can never get the time back. So sadly, our already delayed and difficult road for being able to open The Good Table Cafe and Planting Justice Nursery in El Sobrante has lengthened.

When we discovered the break-in, we did what you do: we called the cops and our insurance company. We replaced the locks, the security system, and investigated new ways to try to protect the property from another invasion. We’re continuing to get estimates to repair the damage and we’re looking for new funding to cover gaps beyond insurance.

Over the last two weeks, I’ve found myself weeping with our longtime community volunteers who have worked so hard to help us get this project open to benefit the community. But sadness and tears aren’t the only responses I have received to the news. Some folks begin with “that’s awful”, but then ask question after question about how we could have secured the site better etc. I always stand amazed at how many people want to give you loads and loads of advice without a thought to whether or not it is helpful. And, in fact, these armchair security experts seem to have no awareness that it feels like “blaming the victim” at a time when one already feels quite vulnerable. But the most surprising and disappointing response for me is when the focus is all about “did the cops catch them?” Will there be an arrest? What’s the punishment for a crime like this? As if somehow solving the “crime” will magically put the wire back into the walls.

It is worth saying that it has been two weeks since the burglary and we have had zero contact from the sheriff’s department. Law enforcement is clearly not the solution to this problem despite what the “law and order” crowd may believe. After a disappointing call to the Contra Costa Sherrif today, I also discovered that they haven’t even done their bureaucratic duty. The report is still not available for the insurance company yet, let alone has it been passed up to the investigative division where supposedly the agency might try to solve the crime and/or add this information into some effort to close down those who buy stolen wire. No wonder the deputy who took the report asked me that if they found someone, “would we want to press charges”. I’m pretty sure she was hoping that we’d just give up from the outset.

Another dot to connect is that the rise in copper theft, like the epidemic of catalytic converter theft, is driven by the high prices paid for metals used in industrial applications such as electronics. Prices have skyrocketed in recent years as demand for these metals increases. And copper wire thieves are getting bolder and more reckless. Some are now targeting critical infrastructure such as public transit, freeways, and power substations - occasionally getting electrocuted in the process. While our local sheriff isn’t much interested in stopping this crime, the FBI has issued bulletins about how this crime targets critical infrastructure. So maybe a few power and freeway failures will get the powers that be to get busy on this problem?

I don’t have any sure-fire answers to how to prevent (or at this point) recover from crimes of this sort. But I do want to be part of creating communities where there are active strategies to reduce poverty while increasing access to quality education, jobs, and healthcare.

Our project to create a pay-what-you-can and pay-it-forward cafe, organic tree and plant nursery and gathering space for community is designed to help foster connections that help and heal in our increasingly disconnected world. If you’d like to learn more or help us, your support and/or tax-deductible gifts are welcome at: the-good-table.org.

We also welcome your presence each last Saturday of the month between 12-3p for our Community Work + Fun Days.