Winnipeg police are ramping up their efforts to halt catalytic converter theft with more advertising for a program designed to track car parts across the city.
Crime Stoppers is pouring $90,000 into the Save Your Cat program, an initiative launched last summer that sees auto shops paint and engrave catalytic converters to track them should they be stolen.
The money, taken from the province’s Criminal Property Forfeiture fund, will be used for videos, social media campaigns and billboards dotted across the city with advertising for the program.
Launched in July 2022, the program sees participating shops and dealers offer free engraving of an eight-digit serial number onto the car part, which converts exhaust into less harmful elements, if they are getting other work done at the same time.
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Paul Johnson, past chairperson of Winnipeg Crime Stoppers, said the high-visibility paint and engraving is designed to act as a deterrent for thieves, as any engraved catalytic converter can’t be accepted by scrap dealers since the Provincial Scrap Metal Act was enacted last year.
According to Johnson, the city has seen an 80 per cent drop in catalytic converter thefts in the first six months of 2023 compared with 2022, before the act came into legislation.
Under the Scrap Metal Act, scrap buyers must record each transaction involving scrap metal, keep records for two years and provide them to officials if asked.
Anyone selling catalytic converters must provide ID at the time of the sale, too.
Johnson said getting the word out about the program is important because of the costs associated with having a catalytic converter stolen.
Having the car part replaced can cost up to $1,000 and the part can be stolen from a vehicle “in a matter of seconds.”
For the months of July and August, Crime Stoppers is also doubling its cash rewards for information on anyone stealing or buying stolen catalytic converters. Information can yield a reward of up to $2,000 during the summer months.