Photo: WDIO-TV

From WDIO-Tv - October 18, 2021

The Duluth Police Department is proud to announce a new initiative to curve the amount of catalytic converter thefts that occurred within the City of Duluth.

From September 1 to October 13 of this year, the Duluth Police Department took approximately a dozen reported thefts of catalytic converters within the City.

To deter thieves from continuing to steal catalytic converters, DPD, in partnership with a few auto repair shops in Duluth, is using an identification kit to ID or mark catalytic converters.

“The goal is that once a thief notices that your catalytic converter is marked, they won’t steal it,” said Ben Nordskog, Auto Theft Investigator. “If the thief does steal it, this identification mark allows us to link the ID number with the car’s VIN number, letting us track the converter.”

While your vehicle is getting serviced at either 4th Street Auto, Thompson’s T-Express, or Allstar Service Center, residents who want to participate in the initiative just need to ask the shop to mark their converter. This service is free to those who want to participate and it won’t damage your vehicle.

The Duluth Police Department’s Catalytic Converter Initiative is a grant-funded program. The initiative hopes to be a continuous program to help prevent catalytic converter thefts within the City of Duluth.

https://duluthmn.gov/police/information-services/catalytic-converter-initiative/

To see the original story and read related reports, follow this link to the WDIO-TV website.  https://www.wdio.com/news/police-auto-repair-shops-catalytic-converter-thefts/6273076/