Houston City Council passed an ordinance to help combat the rise in catalytic converter theft around the city was passed during the May 4 meeting.
The ordinance, which relates to metal recyclers and secondhand resellers, is part of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s One Safe Houston initiative.
Under the ordinance, it is unlawful for an individual or metal recycler to have a cut catalytic converter unless they possess proper documentation: This includes proof of ownership of the vehicle from which the converter came from. According to an April 28 presentation, this is due largely to the fact that industry standard is to unbolt a catalytic converter off a vehicle, so when cut off, suspicion is raised.
According to the presentation, the possession of a stolen catalytic converter will now be considered a Class C misdemeanor and will help strengthen investigation efforts and enforcements from HPD.
The ordinance also now requires business transactions to be uploaded to a law enforcement database. In an interview with Community Impact Newspaper, Cmdr. Salam Zia with the Houston Police Department said this will fix a reporting gap and allow HPD to follow up on anything that strikes as suspicious.
“The goal is, at the end of it, to decrease violent crime,” Zia said. “If catalytic converters are the common element to some of the violent crimes, then obviously, that's where our focus needs to be.”
The ordinance is aimed at alleviating the spike in catalytic converter thefts that Houston has seen over the last two years, Zia said.
According to the presentation, a catalytic converter is an exhaust emission control device attached to the undercarriage of a vehicle and is designed to convert gasses created by the engine into less toxic gasses before being released into the environment by the exhaust.
Zia said the auto part contains metals such as rhodium, palladium and platinum, which have all increased in price due to supply issues brought on by the pandemic. He said the price of these metals have increased the attraction for the theft of catalytic converters.
“Rhodium [price] went up like 1,000%,” Zia said. “It went from like $740 and shot up to over $20,000, but it's now back down to $18,000 or so.”
Stealing a catalytic converter takes about 30-90 seconds, but HPD has seen more organized criminal elements, including getaway cars and people with guns on the lookout—escalating the crime from theft to robbery.
“Folks in the community are somehow confronting these criminals,” Zia said. “And these people are responding back with violence.”
Houstonians who would like to protect themselves against theft can use a high-temperature fluorescent paint to mark their catalytic converter, engrave their car’s VIN number into it or purchase a shield guard.
According to Zia, HPD officers want to create a deterrent in the city but have hopes to one day look beyond to the federal level and other states around Texas for help in combating the crime.
“This is a launching point for us to be a leader in the change,” Zia said.
