Brooklyn Councilman Justin Brannan’s bill to thwart surging catalytic converter theft

Brooklyn Councilman Justin Brannan desires to ban scrap steel outlets citywide from shopping for and promoting used catalytic converters.
Stefan Jeremiah for New York Pos

The surge in catalytic converter thefts may come to a screeching halt beneath a proposed Metropolis Council invoice.

Brooklyn Councilman Justin Brannan says he desires to ban scrap steel outlets citywide from shopping for and promoting used catalytic converters, a automotive half whose treasured metals have been fetching huge bucks for thieves.

Violators would face yet-to-be decided fines and probably the lack of city-issued licenses to function beneath the laws Brannan will introduce subsequent month.

Catalytic convertors are linked to automobile mufflers and assist convert engine exhaust into much less dangerous emissions. These units, which will be clipped off in minutes by savvy thieves, include rhodium, platinum and different costly metals that may be flipped for an enormous revenue.

Catalytic convertors assist convert engine exhaust into much less dangerous emissions.

AP Picture/Matt Rourke

“Cops can’t be all over the place always,” mentioned Brannan (D-Brooklyn). “The one method to put an finish to that is by prohibiting the scrap steel sellers from buying catalytic converters within the first place. You don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to know if a man is available in seeking to promote 10 catalytic converters that they’re all stolen.”

As the worth of those metals have skyrocketed the previous few years, so has thefts of catalytic converters nationwide. Within the Large Apple alone, there’s been 5,548 “cat” burglaries this 12 months by way of Aug. 14 — almost three time greater than 1,505 throughout the identical interval final 12 months, in line with NYPD knowledge offered to The Submit. Many different components of the state have additionally seen the thefts a minimum of double.

Violators of the coverage would face yet-to-be decided fines.

AP

The state Legislature earlier this 12 months authorized a invoice geared toward deterring catalytic converter robberies, but it surely lacks the enamel of Brannan’s plan and focuses on automobile dismantlers and scrap processors holding a greater paper path on sellers of those units.