With catalytic converter thefts surging across the nation, Minneapolis is the next city crafting a policy specifically aimed at slowing down those bent on stealing the valuable auto parts.
Under an ordinance proposed by City Council Member Andrew Johnson, sales of any used catalytic converters not attached to a vehicle could only be carried out by “bona fide” auto shops in Minneapolis — licensed repair shops and dealers that follow requirements to document any work.
People steal catalytic converters, a critical part of a vehicle’s exhaust system that hangs from a car’s undercarriage — because they contain valuable metals like platinum, palladium and rhodium. “There’s not really a good way of catching people in the act, and it is not a matter of putting more officers on the street,” said Johnson. The best way to stop the problem, he said, is on the demand side.
It costs thousands of dollars to replace a catalytic converter. And once removed from a car, it’s hard for law enforcement agencies to track it back to a specific vehicle, making theft arrests nearly impossible. “You start walking down that street with a catalytic converter — if you get stopped [by police], that’s not a crime,” said Johnson.
After stealing a catalytic converter, thieves can often sell them for hundreds of dollars. Since the pandemic started, such thefts have skyrocketed around the country.
In Minneapolis, there were 124 reports of catalytic converters thefts in 2019, according to the Minneapolis Police Department. In 2020, that number increased to 1,076, and the city is on pace to surpass that total this year: there have been 1,000 thefts of catalytic converters reported so far in 2021.
[image_credit]MinnPost file photo by Terry Gydesen[/image_credit][image_caption]City Council Member Andrew Johnson[/image_caption]
Johnson said he began looking into a catalytic converter policy before thefts spiked, beginning in 2019. “It’s important for cities to act when we are not seeing that action happening at the state level,” he said.
This year, state lawmakers did agree to spend $400,000 on spray paint and etching tools, offering the material to cities with high rates of reported catalytic converter thefts. The tools are used to make identifying marks that would indicate the catalytic converter is stolen.
But the law does not specifically target those in possession of catalytic converters that are not attached to a car. “Certainly, it would be our preference to see a statewide law that is similar to this ordinance,” said Johnson of his proposal.
The city’s Business, Inspections, Housing & Zoning (BIHZ) Committee discussed the ordinance last month and will hold a public hearing on the matter on Oct. 26.
It should also be illegal to possess a catalytic converter not attached to a vehicle if you are not an auto repair shop. This should come with mandatory jail time. Why is this taking so long? There should have been a statewide statute about this years ago.
Democrats tried to do that, but Republicans blocked it.
So basically criminalize anyone who works on their own vehicles, has project cars, etc… great plan.
So I can’t fix my own exhaust on my 95 Honda?
Do you actually believe that a thief will be deterred by having to sell his stolen catalytic converter on the black market and have some chop shop install it? Is it even a crime that police will charge a Mpls person with? I thought unless there was bodily harm these crimes wouldn’t be prosecuted?
What’s your point? Do you object to this bill? Should the City Council do nothing because its approach won’t solve the entire problem?
My point is will they enforce this law? No use having a law if it is not enforced. As soon as looters found out they wouldn’t be arrested on site during the riots, more looting took place. If no one is arrested for stealing catalytic converters, what good is the law?
Who says that the law won’t be enforced? Apart, that is, from people with a reflexive hatred of all things Minneapolis.
Who says they will enforce this law? The DA and Mayors office said they are concentrating on violent crime…. This, not being a violent crime, begs to ask will it be prosecuted ?? Do you know for a fact this non violent crime will be prosecuted, if so, please inform me, thank you.
Predict the (hypothetical) future? We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future.
No, I don’t see the police breaking down doors and kneeling on necks over this. The city doesn’t have the power to make a crime a felony, so yes, it will fall low on the priority list. That is why the state should be the one taking the lead on this.
RB, so basically you want the Congress to make a law stopping people from stealing catalytic converters? I’m pretty sure that is already against the law. So the next step would be make a law that must be prosecuted by a DA, Attorney General, City Council and Mayor that do not want prosecute non violent crimes. Hopefully you have a better suggestion for them.
Joe, you don’t read comments very carefully, do you?
The state, not the federal government, should take the lead on this. Nowhere did I say I thought this should be a federal matter. And yes, it is illegal already to steal catalytic converters, so one point for accuracy.
A better solution would be to make this a civil licensing matter. Require any auto parts dealer or scrap metals buyer to record identification information of anyone from whom they buy catalytic converters. Since it is a civil licensing matter, the regulatory authorities can make inspections on demand of the lists of sellers.
Cut down on the demand, and you will cut down on the supply. It’s basic economics.
So to my main point are they going to prosecute this crime or not? That was the issue. You can put in all the flowery language you want about “crime prevention “ in some bill designed to trick crooks, good luck! Rule number one about human nature, no consequences for bad behavior, bad behavior continues. Get back to my main point, will they prosecute the crooks or not? Mpls decided not to prosecute non violent crimes and guess what, crime exploded, including violent crime…..
I don’t understand your main point.
How does anyone know if this ordinance will be enforced to your satisfaction? As I said before, the city has limited power to enact criminal law, and since this is likely to be no more than a misdemeanor (which is not the fault of the libruls on the City Council – it’s state law), mass incarceration of miscreants is a very improbable result.
Yes, you can paint all the vivid word pictures you like about Minneapolis. And no, no ordinance on its own is going to stop the problem. On the other hand, sitting on the sidelines and grousing indignantly about anything and everything doesn’t seem to be accomplishing much, either.
It is a start. But they really need some statewide legislation. Of course there is across the border in Wisconsin too. Minneapolis alone doesn’t help much when they can drive 10 miles and sell it anyway.
I just did a cat delete on a couple of my cars, so even if I were in the city, problem solved. Oh and the hp gains and change in exhaust note is nice too.
It’s not usually a good idea to confess to a crime in a public forum.
Then late last spring, I took one of those cars to eastern Montana to drive it as fast as it will go, and it goes pretty good. Public roads provide a lovely track to push a bit, so while this rig isn’t as fast as some cars, it is faster than most, and 150 is an easy get, especially early morning when temps are lower (turbos love cold air).
Your concern is noted.
There’s almost no reason for anyone to be walking around with a CC. These are essential and required and components that rarely need to be replaced, and you can’t or install used ones. Chop shops don’t buy these things to install them, Junk yards buy them to cash-out the precious metals.
If you’re worried about people who work on their own cars (And I’m in that group) figure out a way to carve out an exception, but this is very rare circumstance. I would note that even DYI people will have some documentation, you will have a receipt for the new replacement CC you’ve installed for instance. That receipt could be stamped when you sell the old one to keep it from being used repeatedly, and those selling CC’s could be reported in a data base similar to the one we currently use to keep track of pseudoephedrine. Anyone who’s replacing more than one or two CC’s a year isn’t a DIY person fixing up an old Grand Torino.
Sure, no regime would ever be air-tight but this bans like this could put a huge dent in opportunistic thefts, and all things have to start somewhere.
Anyone who’s replacing more than one or two CC’s a year isn’t a DIY person fixing up an old Grand Torino.
Perhaps not in your neck of the woods, but if one is looking to expand this statewide, there’s a great diversity of what one might consider DIY. This is a demand issue. Stop scrappers from profiting and the problem goes away. Why punish motorheads for junk runners greed. Set up a state run depository, and make it the only legal way to recycle convertors.
Easier still: require anyone selling a converter to a dealer to present identification, which is then recorded and retained by the buyer. A lot of states have a similar requirement for scrap metal buyers and pawnbrokers.
Buy converters only through licensed sellers, like we do with batteries and tires.
Matt, no matter what neck of the woods you may be in, DIY stands for Do It Yourself… i.e. you’re working on your own stuff, not being paid to work on someone else’s stuff. You can have a business that flies under the radar, but that’s not DYI.
And again, CC’s rarely fail or actually need replacement so even if you’re flying under the radar making some extra cash, you’d have to be doing so as some kind of muffler and exhaust specialist in order to see more than one or two CCs a year.
Now you could be one of these people that swaps out CCs for pipes because some people think that increases compression and power, and since no one is inspecting anymore why not? But that is actually illegal so again, if you’re selling more than one or two CC’s a year, or even a decade for that matter, you’re likely doing something you shouldn’t be doing.
It would seem your imagination of the varying “necks of the woods” is rather limited, as is your conception of the varying ages of vehicle utilized by folks of lesser means. In any case, the response you favor is a reactionary overstep, when other means are perfectly capable of addressing the problem, sans the the blowback criminalizing home auto repair (as you surely understand such a measure would be labelled) to protect a rather limited set of interests would create.
Matt, we’re talking about a MPLS ordinance here, so the neck’s in the woods you keep trying to discuss are irrelevant. Second, necks in the woods aren’t really the subject of the discussion, Catalytic Converters are the issue so information regarding THAT subject is the most relevant, this is a mechanical issue not a poverty issue. The only reason anyone would have to replace a CC is if their existing one clogs up, a clogged exhaust system can make a car undrivable or mess with the computer. This simply does not happen very often regardless of one’s level of income. Back in the 70’s and 80’s you’d see more CC’s clogging up because the engines didn’t run as clean as those since the late 80’s. Since the mid 90’s or so most people could put 200k miles on a car without really seeing a CC problem.
You need special tools that most people don’t own to work on exhaust systems and you need to be able to get the vehicle off the ground and keep up high enough to do the work. You seem to think there is a neck of the woods somewhere where low income drivers have a thousands of dollar worth of tools and equipment and a place to store those tools AND a place to do the work. I don’t know where you got that idea.
As for low income drivers you seem to be carrying a lot of stereotypes around regarding the kinds of cars they drive and who repairs them when they break down. I myself drive a 2003 Honda Odyssey so I don’t know where I fit in your demographic scheme but you are not really displaying legitimate socio-economic sensitivity here. If someone is driving a 90’s era or older car they know that a new CC will cost more than the car is worth no matter what you do with the old CC and cashing in on the old CC isn’t the problem… having a car to drive is the problem. People don’t yank converters out of cars they need for transportation unless the car isn’t running. So maybe YOU need to compare your own imagination to mine… but don’t imagine how this works… I know how it works because I’ve been doing this work for decades.
First off, you don’t need special tools to work on an exhaust system. A jack, jack stands and a socket set will do. If you want to have it welded (preferred but not required as there are clamps you can use) you can take the pieces to a shop and have them do it. It’s pretty cheap. I’ve done it many times.
Dude, any time you have to take something to the shop… that’s because you don’t have the special tools you need to do the work. A socket set wrenches will typically fail you because the fasteners are seriously rusted and break off, an impact air wrench can save you a world of hurt. Even if you by-pass the clamps you need pipe cutters and expanders to fit new pieces in. Sure, you might get by without special tools IF you have a entire day or at least several hours to crawl around under you car, but odds are things will rattle and roll and clank around when you think you’ve finished the job.
As alluded to above, what’s to prevent avoiding the hefty replacement cost by patching in a length of pipe where the missing cat was? Car/truck dealerships might decline to do it. So if not DIY, find a custom exhaust shop that deals with the loud pipe community . There are no longer periodic emission inspections here or enforceable motor vehicle noise laws.
People have considered this Mr. Finn, but most people can’t find someone who’ll do the work for them, even as a temporary fix. Something like that actually isn’t a DYI project because to make it work in most cases you have to actually weld the pipe in there, it’s not a matter of bolting some stuff together.
PSA – Electric vehicle do not use or require catalytic converters. Consider making your next car an EV.