Catalytic converters swiped from South Okanagan parks office

An Okanagan local government office may find some of its vehicle-reliant parks tasks hampered in the days ahead.

The catalytic converters of four Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen parks vehicles were stolen at some point between last Saturday and Monday, while parked at the RDOS Parks & Facilities offices near the Campbell Mountain landfill in Penticton, B.C.

The regional district said that whoever did it cut through a fence to gain access to the site.

“The incident has been reported to the RCMP and the RDOS is working with the Insurance Corporation of BC to arrange repairs to the vehicles, however, it is expected to take several weeks for the vehicles to be operational,” regional district staff said.

2:06 Renewed concerns about catalytic converter thefts

These vehicles do work including snow removal in parking lots and along pathways and pedestrian corridors. They may be impacted in the communities of West Bench, Naramata, Kaleden, Okanagan Falls and other areas.

“We had to pivot a little bit and work with our departments to borrow vehicles and adjust what we do and how we do it,” said RDOS Parks and Facilities manager Justin Shuttleworth.

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“In the case of a snowfall, we might get some overnight or through the weekend, we are going to have to adjust the timing of how we do it so there may be some delays or disruptions of services in the event of a snowfall.”

A catalytic converter is part of a vehicle’s exhaust system that controls and reduces pollutants in exhaust emissions.

According to ICBC, theft of catalytic converters has risen due to a significant increase in the price of precious metals contained within these devices.

In Penticton, RCMP say they’ve seen an increase in these thefts across the South Okanagan but could not confirm how many have been reported so far this year.

“They are reported to police after the fact, and rarely do owners report the thefts in progress. The thieves typically target parked, unoccupied vehicles, in locations where they can be easily hidden from view of the owner,” said Penticton RCMP Cst. James Grandy in a statement.

The RDOS has increased security measures, including additional lighting and video surveillance, as well as active patrols.

Anyone with information or who witnesses acts of theft occurring is asked to contact the RCMP.