7 ms·

Substantial Rise in Catalytic Converter Thefts

53 points by Kaibeezy 7y ago

Kaibeezy 7y ago
With rhodium at £4000/oz and lax enforcement of the Air Weapons Licensing Act 2015, this was the inevitable result.
- ben_w 7y ago
  > This is due to the lack of enforcement of the Scrap Metals Dealers Act 2013 and its complementary legislation in Scotland, The Air Weapons Licensing Act 2015. Why is scrap metal recycling controlled under a law that is called “Air Weapons Licensing”? http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2015/10/contents/enacted http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2015/10/contents/enacted Okay, so technically it is “and licensing” and the article has a typo, but still why did they put these things together like this?
  - Havoc 7y ago
    I'm guessing crazy lobbying shenanigans like in the US
  - jsty 7y ago
    > why did they put these things together like this? At a glance, it looks to be an act that defines regulations for all matters requiring licensing (weapons, alcohol, taxis, etc.) that are controlled by the devolved administration - I don't see any reason why that wouldn't be in one bill?
    - buckminster 7y ago
      I agree it makes sense. I think the reason for the strange title is because, technically, air weapons are not licensed.
  - Reason077 7y ago
    It takes considerable time and effort to get an Act successfully through Parliament, so it's often best to group related things together in a single piece of legislation rather than small separate ones. This particular legislation is all about permits and licensing for various things, whether that be air weapons or scrap metal dealing, so I'd say it's legitimate to group them together.
srbby 7y ago
Without even looking at the domain name I already knew this was in London.
adammunich 7y ago
My friend just had thier cat ripped out of thier Prius in Oakland. It took the thief team all of 7 minutes to accomplish it according to our camera records.
- bluedino 7y ago
  California has seen an insane uptick in converter thefts from Priuses. Doesn't help that prop 47 in California makes thefts under $1,000 a misdemeanor, so if you get caught stealing them you just get a slap on the wrist. Can't they charge them with some federal crime since they are altering an emissions system? Something needs to be done about scrap metal buyers and the people who sell to them to weed out the thieves. They will steal anything made from certain metals and the recyclers will happily buy anything including a pickup truck full of brand new air conditioning units.
  - crispyporkbites 7y ago
    I don’t think this is a good idea. Criminals aren’t deterred by the punishment terms, and upgrading minor thefts to serious crime levels is contributing to the mass incarceration problem across the US. Building a society without incentives to steal and focusing on reform and rehabilitation is what we should be aiming for .
    - taxicabjesus 7y ago
      > Criminals aren’t deterred by the punishment terms, and upgrading minor thefts to serious crime levels is contributing to the mass incarceration problem across the US. I think the problem with mass incarceration is more one of mental illness and punishing the associated problems [0] than punishing intelligent-but-lazy people who’d rather wreck people’s rides by stealing catalytic converters than apply themselves productively. [0] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/numbers-mental-illness-behind-bars https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/numbers-mental-illness-b... Going after rings of catalytic converters thieves is appropriate, if you look for the smart people at the top (head gangster providing direction, etc). I agree with your last paragraph. Several of my passengers were not well served by their punitive punishments - they had more problems (PTSD, etc) after prison than before.
serf 7y ago
>Place a protective covering over the catalytic converter sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, given that a catalytic converter is (necessarily) one of the hottest components on a car.
- embersdev 7y ago
  They make security devices which is essentially a collar on each side with steel cables between. Makes it virtually impossible to cut it off. It instead requires you to first take off the device then cut off the cat. This problem of cat thefts have been a problem in the us for a long time.
  - bostik 7y ago
    > This problem of cat thefts have been a problem in the us for a long time. Indeed. I don't know what materials the current generations use, but 20 years ago, at least, the catalytic mesh was platinum. Unsurprisingly, converter thefts were common enough. (This was back in Finland, fwiw.)
    - saagarjha 7y ago
      Usually it’s platinum, palladium, and rhodium along with some other, cheaper metals.
  - close04 7y ago
    I have a friend in London who was hit with this 3 times in the past few years. He has a security camera overlooking the car but no garage option. First time they stole the unprotected cat it took under 4 minutes. Second time he had the steel cable mesh with collars and clamps protecting it and they stole it in under 7 minutes. Third time he had some sort of fancy protective system with alarm, steel cables, kevlar straps, clearly labeled so the thieves would know. They recognized this to be not worth the trouble so they vandalized the cat instead. The value of the vandalized cat was basically enough to break even with the cost of the fancy protection.
- bootlooped 7y ago
esotericn 7y ago
I had my cat stolen a few years back in Hammersmith, London. Made the car a writeoff as it was a cheap one anyway. I got in, turned the key, car sounded like a 2-stroke bike, turns out the exhaust had a wee "hole" in it. I miss that car. I wouldn't want it back, but it was nice. Mint 2002 Honda Accord. Oh well.
- Scoundreller 7y ago
  The older the car, often the bigger the engine and cat. On some of those old pickups, the cat is worth more than the carcass.
mring33621 7y ago
Chicago, IL, USA here. Facebook marketplace is full of catalytic converters right now. Right on the front page.
clouddrover 7y ago
Muffler and catalytic converter thefts were one of the reasons the New York City Fleet purchased more EVs: https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/dcas/downloads/pdf/fleet/NYC-Fleet-Newsletter-255-March-8-2019-Reducing-Maintenance-Costs-With-Electric-Vehicles.pdf https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/dcas/downloads/pdf/fleet/NYC-Fle...
philmander 7y ago
Poor cat
scelerat 7y ago
I have several friends who have had their cats stolen in Oakland in the last year. Hondas and Toyotas mostly. One friend had his cat stolen from his Prius three times in one year. He's sold the Prius now.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
Scoundreller 7y ago
> Since hybrid cars have two power sources - electric and petrol or diesel - the catalytic converter is used less frequently to process pollutants. The metals are less likely to corrode, meaning they are worth more and thus attractive to thieves. Is this true? I thought hybrids needed more surface area in the cat because they don’t get hot easily because of the engine running less (frequently).
dver 7y ago
Had mine stolen off a Toyota Sequoia. Done in the driveway, alarm on, bedroom windows open. It was so clean, not even dust on the ground. Looked like it had been beamed away. They hit the whole area in a couple of nights. Four wheel drive vehicles were popular because of easy access. To get them replaced was a bit over 5k. My understanding is the thives get about 50 a piece.
- o-__-o 7y ago
  They werent quiet, you were just sleeping. A hand jig will take one out in 30 seconds or less tho. Good luck waking up to that noise esp if any car is driving down your road
m0xte 7y ago
I understand the solution to this is to buy a car with a really small engine and park it next to cars with really big engines or hybrids. They have much more valuable catalytic converters so are likely to get nicked before yours is. Also if you're in UK and have fully comp cover it should cover replacement cost minus excess if it's in the described location in the policy over night.
ttul 7y ago
It always surprises me that journalists covering property crime don’t expound on the reasons for the crime happening in the first place. Catalytic converters, copper pipes, brass fire fighting fittings - these are stolen to fund the purchase of drugs. Why isn’t there more discussion of legalization so that addicts won’t have to steal and cause so much collateral damage to the economy?
- CDSlice 7y ago
  Why would legalization make addicts not have to steal? Why can't they work (legal) jobs and use that money to buy the (illegal) drugs? Unless the answer is that legalizing the drugs will keep them from being fired for illegal drug use while still being able to work their jobs I don't see a connection between the drugs being legal or not and the method of obtaining the money used to purchase the drugs.
  - devoply 7y ago
    I think giving money to people that need it and forcing them to test for illegal drugs is a better solution. There is nothing good or even acceptable about addiction, it's just criminalizing it is a very bad idea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_testing_welfare_recipients https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_testing_welfare_recipient...
  - philipkglass 7y ago
    Making drugs is cheap. Making alcohol is cheap. Recreational drugs are expensive at the retail level due to the black market price premium. That's why there is the stereotype of the thieving junkie rather than the thieving alcoholic. Both are addicted but only one of them pays black market prices. For $15 a day a person can spend every hour of it inebriated. $15 a day is barely a down payment on a black market opioid dependency.
    - stochastic_monk 7y ago
      Interestingly, in the US, legal cannabis prices are usually more than double those on the black market because they’re taxed extremely heavily. Granted, users of cannabis aren’t* usually as captive as those on opioids, but the issue remains that legality may not provide the price change desired. * Edit: corrected typo on mobile.
advertising 7y ago
Friend of mine has a Prius and lives in Echo Park in LA. His cat was cut out of his car twice in two weeks. Seemed like every person in the chain benefited from the theft, scrap metal guys, tow truck towing his car to mechanic, mechanic replacing it and also trying to sell him on a cage. It was almost like the theives were alerted by the mechanic that he had replaced the cat. Theives only make a couple hundred from the cat, insurance pays the mechanic a couple g’s for a new one plus labor.
- advertising 7y ago
  Should add that his insurance company covered everything both times and provided rental car but after second time they won’t cover the vehicle anymore being parked in that neighborhood on the street.

53 points by Kaibeezy 7y ago

Kaibeezy 7y ago

With rhodium at £4000/oz and lax enforcement of the Air Weapons Licensing Act 2015, this was the inevitable result.

ben_w 7y ago
> This is due to the lack of enforcement of the Scrap Metals Dealers Act 2013 and its complementary legislation in Scotland, The Air Weapons Licensing Act 2015. Why is scrap metal recycling controlled under a law that is called “Air Weapons Licensing”? http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2015/10/contents/enacted http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2015/10/contents/enacted Okay, so technically it is “and licensing” and the article has a typo, but still why did they put these things together like this?
- Havoc 7y ago
  I'm guessing crazy lobbying shenanigans like in the US
- jsty 7y ago
  > why did they put these things together like this? At a glance, it looks to be an act that defines regulations for all matters requiring licensing (weapons, alcohol, taxis, etc.) that are controlled by the devolved administration - I don't see any reason why that wouldn't be in one bill?
  - buckminster 7y ago
    I agree it makes sense. I think the reason for the strange title is because, technically, air weapons are not licensed.
- Reason077 7y ago
  It takes considerable time and effort to get an Act successfully through Parliament, so it's often best to group related things together in a single piece of legislation rather than small separate ones. This particular legislation is all about permits and licensing for various things, whether that be air weapons or scrap metal dealing, so I'd say it's legitimate to group them together.

srbby 7y ago

Without even looking at the domain name I already knew this was in London.

adammunich 7y ago

My friend just had thier cat ripped out of thier Prius in Oakland. It took the thief team all of 7 minutes to accomplish it according to our camera records.

bluedino 7y ago
California has seen an insane uptick in converter thefts from Priuses. Doesn't help that prop 47 in California makes thefts under $1,000 a misdemeanor, so if you get caught stealing them you just get a slap on the wrist. Can't they charge them with some federal crime since they are altering an emissions system? Something needs to be done about scrap metal buyers and the people who sell to them to weed out the thieves. They will steal anything made from certain metals and the recyclers will happily buy anything including a pickup truck full of brand new air conditioning units.
- crispyporkbites 7y ago
  I don’t think this is a good idea. Criminals aren’t deterred by the punishment terms, and upgrading minor thefts to serious crime levels is contributing to the mass incarceration problem across the US. Building a society without incentives to steal and focusing on reform and rehabilitation is what we should be aiming for .
  - taxicabjesus 7y ago
    > Criminals aren’t deterred by the punishment terms, and upgrading minor thefts to serious crime levels is contributing to the mass incarceration problem across the US. I think the problem with mass incarceration is more one of mental illness and punishing the associated problems [0] than punishing intelligent-but-lazy people who’d rather wreck people’s rides by stealing catalytic converters than apply themselves productively. [0] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/numbers-mental-illness-behind-bars https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/numbers-mental-illness-b... Going after rings of catalytic converters thieves is appropriate, if you look for the smart people at the top (head gangster providing direction, etc). I agree with your last paragraph. Several of my passengers were not well served by their punitive punishments - they had more problems (PTSD, etc) after prison than before.

serf 7y ago

>Place a protective covering over the catalytic converter sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, given that a catalytic converter is (necessarily) one of the hottest components on a car.

embersdev 7y ago
They make security devices which is essentially a collar on each side with steel cables between. Makes it virtually impossible to cut it off. It instead requires you to first take off the device then cut off the cat. This problem of cat thefts have been a problem in the us for a long time.
- bostik 7y ago
  > This problem of cat thefts have been a problem in the us for a long time. Indeed. I don't know what materials the current generations use, but 20 years ago, at least, the catalytic mesh was platinum. Unsurprisingly, converter thefts were common enough. (This was back in Finland, fwiw.)
  - saagarjha 7y ago
    Usually it’s platinum, palladium, and rhodium along with some other, cheaper metals.
- close04 7y ago
  I have a friend in London who was hit with this 3 times in the past few years. He has a security camera overlooking the car but no garage option. First time they stole the unprotected cat it took under 4 minutes. Second time he had the steel cable mesh with collars and clamps protecting it and they stole it in under 7 minutes. Third time he had some sort of fancy protective system with alarm, steel cables, kevlar straps, clearly labeled so the thieves would know. They recognized this to be not worth the trouble so they vandalized the cat instead. The value of the vandalized cat was basically enough to break even with the cost of the fancy protection.
bootlooped 7y ago

esotericn 7y ago

I had my cat stolen a few years back in Hammersmith, London. Made the car a writeoff as it was a cheap one anyway. I got in, turned the key, car sounded like a 2-stroke bike, turns out the exhaust had a wee "hole" in it. I miss that car. I wouldn't want it back, but it was nice. Mint 2002 Honda Accord. Oh well.

Scoundreller 7y ago
The older the car, often the bigger the engine and cat. On some of those old pickups, the cat is worth more than the carcass.

mring33621 7y ago

Chicago, IL, USA here. Facebook marketplace is full of catalytic converters right now. Right on the front page.

clouddrover 7y ago

Muffler and catalytic converter thefts were one of the reasons the New York City Fleet purchased more EVs: https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/dcas/downloads/pdf/fleet/NYC-Fleet-Newsletter-255-March-8-2019-Reducing-Maintenance-Costs-With-Electric-Vehicles.pdf https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/dcas/downloads/pdf/fleet/NYC-Fle...

philmander 7y ago

Poor cat

scelerat 7y ago

I have several friends who have had their cats stolen in Oakland in the last year. Hondas and Toyotas mostly. One friend had his cat stolen from his Prius three times in one year. He's sold the Prius now.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

Scoundreller 7y ago

> Since hybrid cars have two power sources - electric and petrol or diesel - the catalytic converter is used less frequently to process pollutants. The metals are less likely to corrode, meaning they are worth more and thus attractive to thieves. Is this true? I thought hybrids needed more surface area in the cat because they don’t get hot easily because of the engine running less (frequently).

dver 7y ago

Had mine stolen off a Toyota Sequoia. Done in the driveway, alarm on, bedroom windows open. It was so clean, not even dust on the ground. Looked like it had been beamed away. They hit the whole area in a couple of nights. Four wheel drive vehicles were popular because of easy access. To get them replaced was a bit over 5k. My understanding is the thives get about 50 a piece.

o-__-o 7y ago
They werent quiet, you were just sleeping. A hand jig will take one out in 30 seconds or less tho. Good luck waking up to that noise esp if any car is driving down your road

m0xte 7y ago

I understand the solution to this is to buy a car with a really small engine and park it next to cars with really big engines or hybrids. They have much more valuable catalytic converters so are likely to get nicked before yours is. Also if you're in UK and have fully comp cover it should cover replacement cost minus excess if it's in the described location in the policy over night.

ttul 7y ago

It always surprises me that journalists covering property crime don’t expound on the reasons for the crime happening in the first place. Catalytic converters, copper pipes, brass fire fighting fittings - these are stolen to fund the purchase of drugs. Why isn’t there more discussion of legalization so that addicts won’t have to steal and cause so much collateral damage to the economy?

CDSlice 7y ago
Why would legalization make addicts not have to steal? Why can't they work (legal) jobs and use that money to buy the (illegal) drugs? Unless the answer is that legalizing the drugs will keep them from being fired for illegal drug use while still being able to work their jobs I don't see a connection between the drugs being legal or not and the method of obtaining the money used to purchase the drugs.
- devoply 7y ago
  I think giving money to people that need it and forcing them to test for illegal drugs is a better solution. There is nothing good or even acceptable about addiction, it's just criminalizing it is a very bad idea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_testing_welfare_recipients https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_testing_welfare_recipient...
- philipkglass 7y ago
  Making drugs is cheap. Making alcohol is cheap. Recreational drugs are expensive at the retail level due to the black market price premium. That's why there is the stereotype of the thieving junkie rather than the thieving alcoholic. Both are addicted but only one of them pays black market prices. For $15 a day a person can spend every hour of it inebriated. $15 a day is barely a down payment on a black market opioid dependency.
  - stochastic_monk 7y ago
    Interestingly, in the US, legal cannabis prices are usually more than double those on the black market because they’re taxed extremely heavily. Granted, users of cannabis aren’t* usually as captive as those on opioids, but the issue remains that legality may not provide the price change desired. * Edit: corrected typo on mobile.

advertising 7y ago

Friend of mine has a Prius and lives in Echo Park in LA. His cat was cut out of his car twice in two weeks. Seemed like every person in the chain benefited from the theft, scrap metal guys, tow truck towing his car to mechanic, mechanic replacing it and also trying to sell him on a cage. It was almost like the theives were alerted by the mechanic that he had replaced the cat. Theives only make a couple hundred from the cat, insurance pays the mechanic a couple g’s for a new one plus labor.

advertising 7y ago
Should add that his insurance company covered everything both times and provided rental car but after second time they won’t cover the vehicle anymore being parked in that neighborhood on the street.