POLICE NEWS

Police: Catalytic converter thefts on the rise

By HERALD STAFF
Posted 3/10/21

By HERALD STAFF Cranston Police are advising residents of an increase in catalytic converter thefts and seeking the community's help in curbing the activity. In a statement on social media, the department advised it is asking local scrap metal dealers

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POLICE NEWS

Police: Catalytic converter thefts on the rise

Posted

Cranston Police are advising residents of an increase in catalytic converter thefts and seeking the community’s help in curbing the activity.

In a statement on social media, the department advised it is asking local scrap metal dealers and members of the public to report any “suspicious activity around car dealerships, parking lots, and any other place vehicles are often left unoccupied for extended periods of time.”

Police are specifically advising vigilance during nighttime hours, when many of the thefts occur.

Police say tips may be submitted anonymously to detectives via the department’s website, cranstonpoliceri.com.

According to a February story in the New York Times, catalytic converter thefts are increasingly significantly nationwide. Driving the trend is the soaring price of precious metals – including palladium and rhodium – that are used in the devices, which remove pollutants from vehicle exhaust.

According to the Times story, the price of palladium has risen from $500 to $2,875 per ounce in the last five years. Rhodium prices have skyrocketed even higher, from $640 to $21,900 per ounce over the same timeframe.

police, thefts, catalytic converter

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