Howard, state legislators hope proposed law will curb theft of catalytic converters - The Westerly Sun
STONINGTON — A rise in value for recycled metals and other inflationary costs have contributed to a dramatic rise in catalytic converter thefts across the Northeast. State Rep. Greg Howard and other legislators in the House are hoping legislation sent to Gov. Ned Lamont’s desk will aid law enforcement and deter criminal activity.
Howard and members of the Connecticut House passed the legislation unanimously on Monday and the bill has since been sent to Lamont’s desk.
The law will effectively prevent the sale of stolen parts by requiring that the converter “must be on the car.” It also sets new restrictions that will create a paper trail and better regulate junkyard sales to protect state residents. Howard said the goal is to both avert attempted theft and help law enforcement better identify possible criminal activity.
"It is hoped that the bill will deter people from stealing catalytic converters as it will become very hard to impossible to sell them for profit, ultimately reducing or eliminating this issue," said Howard, a ranking member of the Public Safety and Security Committee and a detective with the Stonington Police Department.
In recent years, thefts of catalytic converters have been on the rise due to increasing values of precious metals such as palladium, platinum or rhodium that are contained in the converters.
The problem hasn’t been any more extensive in southeastern Connecticut than other parts of the state, law enforcement officials said, but such thefts have occurred sporadically in Stonington, Westerly and Hopkinton in the past six months.
During a hearing Monday at the Capitol Building in Hartford, several Connecticut lawmakers stood to tell stories about the impact of stolen converters in their districts. The thieves, legislators said, have been slipping under vehicles in the cover of night and quickly removing the toxic gas- and emissions-reducing devices from everything ranging from private vehicles to school buses, vans used by nonprofit agencies and senior centers, as well as contractor trucks and RVs.
Police said the thieves are often lured by bounties of $1,000 to $1,500 per converter, a result of the precious metals.
“I think I’m not going out on a limb here that not a single member of this chamber has passed maybe a week without hearing multiple reports about the theft of catalytic converters in their district and throughout the state,” said Rep. Maria Horn, D-Salisbury, co-chair of the General Assembly’s Public Safety Committee.
“As their value increases, we are hearing increasingly stories of them being sold right in front of your home, from a school bus, from senior transport,” she said. “Some really harrowing stories.”
Under the proposed legislation, which was first approved by the Senate before receiving unanimous approval in the House on Monday, the catalytic converter must be on the car before a recycler can buy it. The law would also require the recycler to record a stock number and have a written record of the transaction.
The bill would also strengthen the process to hold scrap metal processors accountable for recording more detailed information when buying a catalytic converter. Currently, state laws do not require processors to record the seller’s name and address, but that will change under the new law that requires photo identification.
The legislation would also prohibit anyone other than a recycler or a licensed repair shop from selling more than one unattached converter to a scrap metal processor, junk dealer or junkyard in a given day.
If approved by Lamont, the law would take effect on June 1.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
source: https://www.thewesterlysun.com/daily-news-alerts/howard-state-legislators-hope-proposed-law-will-curb-theft-of-catalytic-converters/article_91689d42-cbdf-11ec-8240-2bdf59e5cd22.html
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