Utah
Utah police hope new partnership will curb the flow of catalytic converter thefts
An worker at Jiffy Lube on Thursday engraves the VIN quantity on the catalytic converter and places a warmth resistant fluorescent stripe over it. Police hope the procedures will deter thieves from stealing catalytic converters. (Pat Reavy, KSL.com)
Estimated learn time: 3-4 minutes
MIDVALE — Regardless of laws lately handed by Utah lawmakers aimed toward serving to curb the issue, police say catalytic converter thefts proceed to be an enormous subject across the state.
“The problem that we had as soon as that laws was written is we nonetheless haven’t got a sufferer so we won’t prosecute,” Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera stated Thursday. “It is actually laborious to cost somebody when you do not have a sufferer.”
In an effort to assist police and prosecutors catch and convict extra catalytic converter thieves, in addition to hopefully deter others from committing the identical crime, Unified police on Thursday introduced a brand new partnership with Jiffy Lube.
The oil change firm is providing to engrave a car’s VIN quantity onto its catalytic converter and put a heat-resistant fluorescent paint stripe over it, totally free. Police hope the paint will deter potential thieves from chopping the catalytic converter from a car by performing as a warning that the automotive’s proprietor can now be simply tracked down, utilizing the identical nationwide database that shops VIN numbers. But when a VIN quantity is filed off a catalytic converter, regulation enforcers hope it should tip off pawn retailers and steel recycling firms that the automotive half is probably going stolen.
Catalytic converters are used to assist scale back the toxicity of a car’s emissions. A automotive will nonetheless run with out one, however will sound exceptionally loud. Converters comprise a number of treasured metals that may be offered at recycling yards for fast money. And due to the current values of a few of these treasured metals, thieves can probably make a whole bunch of {dollars}.
With the correct instruments, police say a catalytic converter could be minimize out from the underside of a car and brought in lower than two minutes.
In 2021, the Utah Legal professional Normal’s Workplace reported that converter thefts in Utah had risen practically 600% since 2018, whereas skyrocketing 6,000% nationally throughout that very same time. In 2019 there have been roughly 100 catalytic converter thefts reported in Utah, the Legal professional Normal’s workplace reported. That quantity jumped to 650 throughout 2020 after which doubled once more the subsequent 12 months.
Earlier his 12 months, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a invoice that requires the second-hand sale of catalytic converters to be intently documented, together with particular documentation from an individual making an attempt to promote the automotive.
However Rivera stated whereas the laws helped, it additionally had loopholes. Most notably, it did not account for making an attempt to determine the sufferer.
“That has been the largest problem,” the sheriff stated. “There’s simply no sufferer to determine, all of the catalytic converters look the identical.”
Jiffy Lube says its new service might be obtainable in any respect 79 of its shops throughout Utah by subsequent week. No appointment is important. And the method of getting a VIN engraved takes 5 minutes.
Rivera stated car homeowners may also attempt to defend themselves by parking in well-lit areas at evening, and if residents see or hear one thing suspicious — corresponding to an individual beneath a car that does not belong to that particular person, or a sawing or drilling noise — name police. Police have responded to catalytic converter thefts in every single place from grocery retailer parking heaps to the Salt Lake Worldwide Airport.