LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Exhausted with an accelerating amount of catalytic converter thefts, a Louisville Metro Council Committee voted Wednesday to put more teeth into a city law.
The metal inside those exhaust system devices can bring in hundreds of dollars at junk yards and pawn shops. Councilmembers hoped a 2019 law would cut down on the number of converters stolen from vehicles.
But a sergeant with the Louisville Metro Police Department told the council Wednesday night that the crime is still growing exponentially.
"Last year, we had a little over 900 (catalytic) converters stolen in addition to vehicles being stolen, supplying those (catalytic) converters," LMPD Sgt. Chris Vlahos said. "And so far, in January, we had a little over 600."
Vlahos said the thefts stem from a rise in criminal activity that sees the converters as "an easy way to make money."
The Metro Council Public Safety Committee unanimously voted to change the 2019 law, making it a crime to possess a catalytic converter that is detached from a vehicle unless that person can provide proof of ownership of the vehicle from which the converter was removed.
Any business purchasing a converter must maintain records that show they bought it from someone who owned the vehicle the converter came out of.Â
The change is expected to get final approval from the full council next Thursday.
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- Police see spike in catalytic converter thefts in Louisville, say crime happens in minutes
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