A recent rise in catalytic converter thefts have left Angelenos in a dangerous and loud situation. Kimberly Aguirre reports on the recent trend.
Imagine you’re late for work. You barely managed to grab a makeshift sandwich and are running for your car. You get in, lock the door and turn the keys, and suddenly....
[AMB: car without catalytic converter]
That’s what happens when a car does not have a catalytic converter. Catalytic converters help control the emissions from your car by turning toxic chemicals from your exhaust into less-toxic pollutants. They also help the car not make that awful sound.
These auto parts have recently turned into a highly popular item to steal. According to city councilmembers, in the city of Los Angeles, about 8,000 reported catalytic converter thefts happened last year, up from 972 reported in 2018.
These highly coveted items can be resold by thieves for around 800 to 1,200 dollars. They can also be melted to extract three expensive metals: Platinum, palladium and rhodium which on average would collectively sell for around 1,500 dollars.
Experienced thieves can take out a catalytic converter from underneath your car in a matter of minutes and with easily accessible hardware tools. Without a catalytic converter, cars become extremely loud, dangerous and practically undrivable.
James Francis Flynn is an Angeleno who recently had his car’s catalytic converter stolen.
FLYNN: I turned on the car and immediately knew because it it. It. There’s this really, like, loud sound that that that it was it was clear straight away. So immediately I was just like, well, okay, that happened. And I still had to take my son to school. So I drove him with the with the catalytic converter like that and the plate scraping the floor.
They can even take months and thousands of dollars to acquire, replace and install.
On April 11, the LA City Council passed an ordinance allowing police to arrest anyone in possession of a catalytic converter for which they can’t prove ownership. It would also carry a one year jail sentence and an 1,000 dollar fine.
But for extra precautions, the Los Angeles Police Department hosted a public event to highlight other ways in which you can keep your car safe.
Detective Michael Ventura, one of the LAPD’s spokespeople, highlights that the best possible prevention method would be installing a shield to make it physically harder for thieves. But that would run you down a few hundred dollars.
Or, Ventura says another alternative is to deter stealing by making it harder for the thieves to resell.
VENTURA: We’re actually etching the VIN numbers onto these cats. We also spray paint. We mark them in high visibility paint. So if somebody gets caught or they can make sure that they know, hey, a reasonable person would have known that this is going to be something you should not steal.
But this assumes that the scrap and precious metal recyclers out there are scrupulous ... But are they?
For Annenberg Media, I’m Kimberly Aguirre.