

Rising catalytic converter thefts have left drivers with noisy vehicles and costly restore payments. Simply how a lot have thefts jumped?
Catalytic converter thefts have almost tripled this 12 months, knowledge obtained by the Tribune reveals. Chicago police reported 3,924 catalytic converter thefts by July, a steep rise from the 1,410 thefts reported in the identical time interval final 12 months, in line with Chicago Police Division knowledge.
Thieves goal the automotive exhaust system half as a result of it accommodates invaluable valuable metals together with rhodium, palladium and platinum, which may fetch tons of of {dollars} in resale on the black market.
The rise matches a development seen throughout the nation, the Tribune reported in August. Of us who lose their catalytic converters acquire an entire lot of headache.
[ Catalytic converter theft rising in Chicago: Removing auto exhaust device takes a minute, but replacing it could take months ]
Restore payments to interchange the emissions-filtering converters can run into the 1000’s of {dollars}. Provide chain disruptions imply the look forward to substitute components can take months, leaving drivers with vehicles that out of the blue roar “like a cross between a garden mower and a race automotive.”
However authorities throughout Chicagoland have gotten artful to answer the swiped segments. A brand new Illinois regulation enforce this summer time requires catalytic converter purchasers to maintain data of transactions and report gross sales to the Inner Income Service. Niles police started spray-painting the automotive half for residents in August.
Chicago police will now comply with swimsuit. CPD’s 14th District will host the division’s first catalytic converter marking occasion at 1711 N. California Ave. on Sunday. The 50 spots obtainable for the occasion have already crammed up, however individuals who stay within the district can nonetheless join one other theft deterrence occasion on Sept. 18, Collazo stated.
Organizers will spray-paint residents’ catalytic converters with high-resistance neon paint and etch identification codes linked to a nationwide database into the automotive half.
“Till one thing is finished the place they’re much less profitable, we’re attempting to do it the place this high-resistance neon paint is a deterrent,” 14th District Cmdr. Elizabeth Collazo stated.
[ To deter catalytic converter thefts, Niles police, Cassidy Tire to spray paint them at August event ]
Half the auto thefts that happen within the district contain catalytic converters, she added. The 14th District contains Wicker Park, Bucktown, Logan Sq. and components of Humboldt Park.
Police arrange the occasion in response to residents’ considerations with assist from Aldermen Scott Waguespack, thirty second, and Daniel La Spata, 1st, in addition to State Farm. The insurance coverage firm has paid $62.6 million for 32,265 nationwide catalytic converter theft claims in 2022, a 13-fold improve over two years.

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“We’re hoping that is going to be simply one in all many occasions,” Collazo stated.
Extra portray and etching occasions might comply with relying on how residents — and catalytic converter thieves — react to the deterrents, stated Waguespack, who purchased the etching kits that might be used Sunday. He plans to help different deterrence occasions in his ward quickly.
The deterrence is a crucial step, he stated, however extra authorized efforts are wanted to cease the consumers who in the end revenue from the stolen catalytic converters.
“We’d like federal legal guidelines on this, as a result of all of these items is being transported throughout state traces,” Waguespack stated. “Any person is getting these ounces of metals which are very costly.”
To enroll in the 14th District’s Sept. 18 catalytic converter marking occasion, e-mail caps.014district@chicagopolie.org. Solely district residents might take part.
jsheridan@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @jakesheridan_