Even with many organizations ending or about to end the pandemic emergency declarations, catalytic converter theft continues to be a problem. These thefts started during the pandemic as the supply chain caused the price of the metals found in catalytic converters to climb. Just last November, CBS News reported the Justice Department arrested 21 people in five states. They were part of a nationwide organized crime ring that targeted catalytic converters.
The investigation leading to the arrests involved 10 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. They obtained 32 search warrants and confiscated millions of dollars of assets. Three people alone resold almost $40 million worth of catalytic converters! Another company knowingly bought stolen catalytic converters, extracted the metals, and sold them to a refinery for more than $500 million!
Data from the National Insurance Crime Bureau shows there were only 1,298 catalytic converter thefts in 2018. The following year saw 3,389 catalytic converter claims. After the pandemic hit in 2020, the number soared to almost 15,000. And that’s not the worse of it. The most recent data from NICB reveals 52,000 catalytic converter thefts in 2021!
Even one of the most famous vehicles had its catalytic converter stolen. Someone swiped the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile’s catalytic converter in Las Vegas according to 8NewsNow. This is an indicator of how brazen thieves have gotten in recent years. The Wienermobile gets a lot of attention and that didn’t stop them from taking it.
Why has this crime continued? The NICB lists the price of metals as follows:
- Rhodium: $12,300
- Palladium: $1,784
- Platinum: $940
It only takes a couple of minutes or less to cut out a converter. Thieves tend to go to recycling facilities and get $50 to $250 for each one. If one thief steals 30 in one hour and gets $50 each, then they get $1,500 for one hour’s work. That’s quite a chunk of change.
What Needs to Be Done About Catalytic Converter Theft?
“There is very little deterrent to stopping these criminals because vehicle thefts are property crimes,” says NICB President and CEO David Glawe in an NICB news release. “Since the start of the pandemic, used-car prices have increased 35 to 40 percent. Criminals are exploiting these high prices as vehicle and catalytic converter thefts are crimes of opportunity. And crime is a business, and business is good.”
It’s such an epidemic that Glawe provided the following recommendations during his testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary:
- Revise criminal justice reform policies.
- Enforce current laws as written.
- Focus on violent offenders.
- Increase community policing programs.
- Collect national and state data on carjackings.
- Implement early intervention programs.
The problem is so dire that local, state, and federal lawmakers are trying to pass laws to curb it.
What Lawmakers Are Doing to Prevent Catalytic Converter Theft
The governor of Massachusetts signed a bill to set penalties for the unauthorized sale of catalytic converters and metals. NICB says the state declared it an emergency law. The new law attempts to reduce thefts by requiring proof of ownership and adding recordkeeping requirements.
The Stamford Advocate writes thieves swiped catalytic converters from more than 30 school buses in Connecticut. This has compelled state legislators to introduce bills to set criminal penalties for the unlicensed possession of at least one converter. The proposed bill requires insurance companies to cover the cost of replacing stolen converters.
Connecticut has already passed a law that requires scrap yards to document details of their converter sales. Unfortunately, this doesn’t do much good because criminals have other outlets for reselling stolen converters, such as the black market, online, or another state.
ABC27 News reports the governor of Pennsylvania just signed a new law that says “a person commits the offense of theft of a catalytic converter if the person unlawfully takes or attempts to take possession of, carries away or exercises unlawful control over a catalytic converter with intent to deprive the rightful owner of the catalytic converter.”
The law also turns catalytic converter theft into a misdemeanor or a felony depending on its value. If it’s worth up to $50, then it’s a first-degree misdemeanor. For it to be a felony, the converter must be worth more than $1,000.
These are just a few of the many examples of what state governments are doing about the rash of converter thefts. NICB has a map and chart of catalytic converter theft bills tracking the status of each across the United States. It identifies how many bills each state has. Select any state and the chart will display any bills in action. It indicates the status from introduced or pre-filed to passed. There are about 20 states that don’t have any bills in the works.
At the federal level, U.S. Senators Mike Braun, Amy Klobuchar, JD Vance, and Ron Wyden have introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to fight the rising number of thefts. Known as the Preventing Auto Recycling Thefts (PART) Act, its purpose would be to make converter thefts a criminal offense. It will also require new vehicles to have a vehicle identification number etched into the converter to help law enforcement trace the stolen items back to the owners.
If passed, the PART Act will also establish a grant program to add the VIN to current vehicles. It would require purchasers of used catalytic converters to improve their recordkeeping efforts. The law has the full support of many transportation associations according to a Transport Topics article.
Even if the federal law is passed, businesses must still take steps to deter catalytic converter thefts. Organized crime rings are rarely dissuaded by laws. Any business with vehicles needs to do what it can to prevent these thefts. This affects automotive dealerships, multifamily residential properties, retailers, distribution and logistics facilities and any business with a parking lot or garage. Criminals often target parking lots and dealerships because it lets them grab as many catalytic converters as they can.
How Businesses Can Prevent Catalytic Converter Theft
A powerful technology that helps prevent catalytic converter thefts and comes with multiple layers of security is business-grade video surveillance cameras with remote monitoring. This is a proactive security system because of the monitoring part of the system. Traditional security technology that relies on security cameras without any kind of monitoring is considered a passive approach to security.
Remote video monitoring is proactive because it relies on a combination of trained operating monitors and video analytics to watch over your business. It can detect potential problems right away. For instance, if someone is on the business property after hours when there should not be, then video analytics will spot it and alert the monitoring operator.
The operator reviews the situation to see if it’s a person.. Then the monitoring operator can activate an onsite speaker to help deter the intruder, as well as contact law enforcement while continuing to track the suspect.
The on-duty trained monitoring operator works in a remote location away from the property. After receiving an alert from video analytics, the operator analyzes the scene. Once they determine this is a potential problem, they can warn the suspect over the speaker and follow up with a call to local authorities.
The police often arrive while the suspect is on the property. This is one of the advantages of using video surveillance with monitoring. It maximizes your security investment by putting two types of eyes on your business: technology and humans.
Check out these videos of catalytic converter theft to see what video surveillance can do for your business:
- Potential theft at a distribution company
- Suspect tampering under vehicles
- Attempted theft at an auto dealership
- Criminal crawling under cars at a multifamily residential property
- Trespassing at transportation and logistics facilities
The mounting number of catalytic converter thefts has caused problems for vehicle owners and businesses housing vehicles. Remote video surveillance can save on costs, delivers a quick ROI, and add layers of security. It can do more than stop catalytic converter theft. It also helps protect people and assets.
Security Technology That Helps Deter Catalytic Converter Thefts
As you search for a security company that does remote video surveillance, look for one with experience in your industry. Every industry has different security requirements. After selecting a security company, a security consultant will come to your business to review the property and make recommendations that meet the company’s requirements and budget. Once approved, the team can install the security cameras to maximize views and start monitoring them.
Companies that select ECAM will have access to innovative security solutions. One of ECAM’s advantages is that it has partnerships with law enforcement across the U.S. and Canada. Law enforcement tends to respond faster when they get a call from a Stealth employee. They know they have video verification that it’s not a false alarm.
If you’d like to learn more about business-grade security and how it can do more than help deter catalytic converter thefts, check out the guide that shows how remote video monitoring is a crime deterrent. To learn more about security and customizing a system that fits your needs, please contact us. Texas Private Security License Number: B14187.
