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It's literally "going out of style". Gotta get all the cat converters you can before all the cars are electric!
Batteries will get stolen for same reason.
I think taking down the buyers is a the best tool we have right now for this issue. And there are things we could do to make that easier, like putting a serial number on the converter on new cars and replacement parts. Requiring the make, model, and serial number of the car it was removed from, and a web site with a DB that has the ID number of cars they've been stolen from so buyers could check it. Make those who bu…
You have to license the buyers and make them account for every lb they recycle by having the serial numbers to compare it. They would have to submit those number as soon as the buy one. If the converter doesn't have one they can't buy it, and setting up stings for that would be pretty easy.
I feel like this is exactly like going after ivory poachers instead of the buyers at the other end. Who is creating a market for stolen catalytic converters? Are the precious metals being extracted, melted down and sold? to who and where? Put THOSE people in jail for the rest of their lives and change the setup so there is in incentive for anyone to even steal one in the first place.
Ivory, on the other hand, can be assumed to be illegally produced in 99% of the cases. If there are legal ways to even obtain new ivory, it's on the buyer to prove that their source is legal. That's not the case for catalytic cores.
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Right, but they should have to prove that the home was paid for with crime, and not the other way around.
That seems like an impossible standard. What happens if the criminal took a job that payed less because of their criminal activity, put the legal paychecks into house payments, and the illegal money into food and other consumables?
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Why can’t it be a felony to buy said items?
Because that's not what happens with stolen catalytic converters, so it wouldn't change anything. Stolen cathalytic converters are valuable due to precious metals that can be extracted from them.
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You know how if you punish a dog, it doesn't really learn and get better? Humans are like that too. Theft is heavily correlated with the economy. Arguably it's a canary in the mine - you can very usually tell what's going to happen in the macroeconomics of an area by just following crime statistics. "Deterrence" has generally been found to be a pretty well-rooted myth. Majority of theft also happens by people who _do…
If you give a dog timely and consistent corrections, it really does learn. That's literally half the battle in house-training a dog. (Yes, you try to control and arrange success and praise when the dog does the right thing, but you also correct when it does the wrong thing.)
Humans might learn from positive punishment and deterrence, dogs are less good at it.
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Wow. I googled DG Auto, and they even have an app for thieves to check prices. https://dgauto.app/ Really wish the cops would download a list of who installed this app and find their location data on top of a map of reported thefts...
> Really wish the cops would download a list of who installed this app and find their location data on top of a map of reported thefts... Uh... So, I too found the website and couldn't believe how brazen the business is. I too was surprised about the app. If I downloaded the app because I was so surprised, should my name be given to the police as part of this investigation? That's ridiculous.
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> "Deterrence" has generally been found to be a pretty well-rooted myth. I'm interested in learning more. Do you have some good resources you could point me to?
Not who you're responding to but for humans there were studies on "positive reinforcement" (praise) vs "negative reinforcement" (punish). I don't have links to studies handy but those are terms to search around.
How would one go about legally selling a catalytic converter? I removed the exhaust from one of my vehicles about 15 years ago when I replaced the worn out engine and have had the old catalytic converter sitting around in my shop ever since. The catalytic converter came from a 1992 model vehicle. The whole exhaust was replaced with a custom stainless steel exhaust front to back with a 50-state compliant catalytic con…
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What's the alternative?
People stealing car batteries at 7-12k a pop
Have you seen any videos of people sliding under a Tesla and somehow sawing out the ~800 pound battery pack and walking away?
Much of the reason why catalytic converter theft is so widespread is that it’s quick and easy. Not so for swiping an EV battery.