Train Heists Continue in Arizona

Whether it’s hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of yet-to-be-released Nike tennis shoes or other high-dollar items, thieves are becoming much more brazen when it comes to how and what they’re stealing from Arizona freight trains.

After escalating over much of the past year, the problem shows no signs of slowing down.

Rise in Rail Thefts

After almost 30 years, SMART-TD’s Arizona Safety & Legislative Director Scott Jones is surprised by how much theft in and around rail yards has grown.

“Many years ago, you might notice a person walking through a rail yard or near some storage tracks out in town,” Jones explained. “They were mainly looking for a box car or something to break into possibly and steal some cases of beer or alcohol. It’s just really escalated in the last few years.”

Prime targets for modern-day bandits are trains parked until they can fit into a yard.

“They end up parking them out in remote areas to store them for a few hours or a 24-hour period before they can get them into their big yards,” Jones said. “What happens is being left unattended out there with very few resources as far as law enforcement to police them and keep people away from them.”

Incidents have gone from petty theft to organized raids on containers stocked with specific items.

“It’s escalated all the way to where you have to say this is pretty organized, and these aren’t your basic, mid-level, lower-level thieves,” Jones said. “This is probably organized crime or something.

Targeting indicates organized criminals

One of the high-profile thefts involved the robbery of $500,000 worth of Nike tennis shoes. Jones believes that someone with insider knowledge might be involved.

“There has to be somebody, because it’s grown all the way to the point where they know which containers,” Jones stressed. “I mean, you’ve got 400 containers out there. How do they know to go to a specific container? That’s what they’re doing.”

No matter who’s responsible, the impact of the thefts is wide-reaching. “Theft always affects everybody,” Jones said. “It affects the carriers we work for. It affects the manufacturers that are shipping. It affects the communities that they’re going to. It’s a huge concern.”

Safety, Vigilance Stressed on the Job

Unless the carriers plan on stepping up by adding more yard crews or easing congestion so that trains don’t have to be left in remote areas for extended periods of time, all Jones can do is educate our members.

Our union’s method of operation has always been “If you see something, say something,” but without knowing who’s behind these crimes and how dangerous it would be for members to involve themselves, Jones wants to ensure that our brothers and sisters don’t feel compelled to confront the criminals themselves and risk serious harm.

“Don’t wait on guidance from the carrier,” Jones said. “Protect yourself. Make sure you know the lead locomotives are all supposed to be able to be secured now.”

Jones used the example of retail stores that have shoplifting protocol.

“[Stores] all have policies for their employees…what to do if somebody’s shoplifting, and for most of them, I understand they do not want them engaging them, because there’s a liability there also,” Jones pointed out. “You wouldn’t ask someone that’s not trained in that area to essentially approach somebody. But we still haven’t heard [from the carriers], and I find that quite interesting.”

Until the heists are brought under control, Jones still has many unanswered questions and mysteries that need to be solved.

“What is causing it?” Jones asked. “The availability. The ease with which they can operate. That’s something I don’t know that I’d love to know the answer to.”