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Catalytic Converter Theft

sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com

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Re: Catalytic Converter Theft

#51

Post by tabletthrowaway »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #21
bluedino wrote: post #4

The local metal scrapyards are far too lenient. They don’t bat an eye at someone bringing in stolen air conditioning condensers (they can even be brand new) You should have to have the tittle for the car to bring a converter in, since it’s a federal offense to remove them.

>You should have to have the tittle for the car to bring a converter in, since it’s a federal offense to remove them. If my eyes could roll in a complete circle they would. Nobody who is parting out cars (resulting in a decent number of legitimately owned cats lying around to scrap) is bringing in the title because cheap junk often changes hands without a title and if not you gave the title to the junkyard in order f…

A potentially less bad idea: circulate a list of known stolen catalytic converters by serial number, and encourage scrappers not to buy them/help find who stole them.

I think this is done with bikes in a lot of places.

Re: Catalytic Converter Theft

#52

Post by _huayra_ »

It's things like this that make it such a shock to go to an extremely safe country / area. All the little scripts one has to keep track of to be "safe and secure" in the US (e.g. instinctively locking your doors all the way to learning that you can't park in SF to take your girlfriend to lunch on your way to drop her off at the airport because a big suitcase is a target for these rampant smash-and-grabs; unfortunately I had to learn this one the hard way) seem absurd if the whole society functions well.

Figuring out how to park on a hill to deter cat theft, buy security nuts for wheels to avoid wheel theft, using special security nuts for one's bike parts to avoid bike component theft (not to mention having to find indoor bike parking because brazen daylight bike theft just seems to be tolerated now) are the sort of tricks one learns to adapt to, but when you visit a place like Japan, Singapore, or Norway, all of this stuff makes you realize how dystopic things have gotten in the US.

Not saying that no country is without flaws, but the little "quality of life hacks" one must do to be safe in the US don't make up for things descending as far into chaos as they have.

Re: Catalytic Converter Theft

#53

Post by throwaway0a5e »

_huayra_ wrote: post #52

It's things like this that make it such a shock to go to an extremely safe country / area. All the little scripts one has to keep track of to be "safe and secure" in the US (e.g. instinctively locking your doors all the way to learning that you can't park in SF to take your girlfriend to lunch on your way to drop her off at the airport because a big suitcase is a target for these rampant smash-and-grabs; unfortunatel…

Petty theft patterns in states that have passed ballot measures or counties that have taken executive actions reducing the penalties on petty theft to the point where the ROI is positive even if you get regularly caught should not be taken as indicative of the entire country.

I live in a city that most of HN would turn up their nose at. It's nothing like what people from the west coast describe as the status quo there. And it's not some city in a red state that spends big bucks on law and order either.

Re: Catalytic Converter Theft

#54

Post by Loughla »

_huayra_ wrote: post #52

It's things like this that make it such a shock to go to an extremely safe country / area. All the little scripts one has to keep track of to be "safe and secure" in the US (e.g. instinctively locking your doors all the way to learning that you can't park in SF to take your girlfriend to lunch on your way to drop her off at the airport because a big suitcase is a target for these rampant smash-and-grabs; unfortunatel…

Maybe it's your definition of 'extremely safe' areas?

I don't own security nuts, or special locks for my bike, or have ever had my home/car broken into despite not even knowing where my house key is at this point and never locking my car.

I don't understand the comparison to the other countries, either. Are you saying they don't have petty crime?

Re: Catalytic Converter Theft

#55

Post by [deleted] »

imglorp wrote: post #49
Robotbeat wrote: post #46

Well I suppose this is one advantage of pure electric cars.

Came here to say that, and yes good riddance of the whole emissions cycle we've endured for decades. EV battery packs are certainly serial numbered and traceable, but these guys will just pivot to breaking up packs and selling cells or whatever.

[deleted]

Re: Catalytic Converter Theft

#56

Post by kube-system »

skt5 wrote: post #29
kube-system wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the VIN is usually only put on permanent parts of a vehicle. Catalytic converters usually last a very long time but can eventually wear out.

What's is considered a permanent part of a vehicle? It seems like there are some people etching the VIN on the heat shield but I don't see any evidence of that deterring thefts.

I mean “permanent” in a general sense. It varies by manufacturer. For most common cars, manufacturers put the VIN on a few places on the frame of the vehicle.

Re: Catalytic Converter Theft

#57

Post by VBprogrammer »

jl6 wrote: post #3
VBprogrammer wrote: post #2

I don't quite understand why the authorities can't hit these guys in the supply line. Make it impossible to shift a bare catalytic converter by cracking down on scrap merchants who would be buying them.

They’re melted down and the result is pure untraceable metal. Rhodium vendors can’t be common though. What’s the story the fences give? “This is all from my small-scale family rhodium mine”?

I haven't looked into it in detail but I would be very surprised if this process was as simple as melting down some stolen lead flashing, surely it isn't the kind of thing you can do with a camping stove and an old pot?

There must be limited facilities with the ability to extract and purify the rhodium content.

Re: Catalytic Converter Theft

#58

Post by _huayra_ »

Loughla wrote: post #54
_huayra_ wrote: post #52

It's things like this that make it such a shock to go to an extremely safe country / area. All the little scripts one has to keep track of to be "safe and secure" in the US (e.g. instinctively locking your doors all the way to learning that you can't park in SF to take your girlfriend to lunch on your way to drop her off at the airport because a big suitcase is a target for these rampant smash-and-grabs; unfortunatel…

Maybe it's your definition of 'extremely safe' areas? I don't own security nuts, or special locks for my bike, or have ever had my home/car broken into despite not even knowing where my house key is at this point and never locking my car. I don't understand the comparison to the other countries, either. Are you saying they don't have petty crime?

Ah I should be more specific: urban areas in those countries. The level of petty crime in any major city in the US is far higher than any city in those countries I mentioned.

In non-urban areas in the US things are better for sure, but you still have to deal with other things like having complete asshole neighbors that you really can't do anything about because small quality of life crimes like partying every night with loud music is not a crime.

If you move to rural areas this goes down even further, but then you give up a lot of amenities.

Re: Catalytic Converter Theft

#59

Post by dragontamer »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #41
bluedino wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then they can show their mechanic's license. There's no reason for Joe off the street to come in with a backpack full of these things. Especially ones that are brand new. Here's 20 stolen from a dealership the other night - https://abc13.com/la-porte-car-dealership-theft-catalytic-co...

>Then they can show their mechanic's license. Scrapyards already need licenses (permits). Adding licensing requirements will just result in the people with licenses buying from the thiefs. It's just another middleman in the chain. If anything it makes the problem worse because scrapyards often do turn away obvious thieves. A mechanic showing up with ten legit converters and forty stolen ones he bought off the thief g…

> Adding licensing requirements will just result in the people with licenses buying from the thiefs.

Lets think about this situation in programming terms. "Fixing this exploit will just result in the people finding another bug to exploit".

Well... yeah. That's the point. You don't necessarily want to stop all crimes (I mean, you do, but that's just unreasonable). Everyone is happy with simple deterrence: making crime harder to do and harder to logically manage.

And you keep fixing the law until the criminals / unwanted behavior is finally fixed. You gotta start somewhere, much like you gotta start fixing code exploits if you want to fix the security in your software.

Re: Catalytic Converter Theft

#60

Post by dragontamer »

londons_explore wrote: post #47
jl6 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They’re melted down and the result is pure untraceable metal. Rhodium vendors can’t be common though. What’s the story the fences give? “This is all from my small-scale family rhodium mine”?

Rhodium is so valuable you can fit tens of millions of dollars of it in a suitcase. And then you sell it to an actual rhodium mine who just so happens to be particularly productive that month.

> And then you sell it to an actual rhodium mine who just so happens to be particularly productive that month.

Surely its easier to keep an eye on all rhodium mines, rather than trying to keep an eye on all scrap metal yards.

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