Palm Springs police will soon have a new tool to arrest people who steal catalytic converters, a growing problem. On Thursday night, the city council passed a law requiring anyone in possession of one that is not attached to a vehicle to also carry proof they own it.
Police Capt. Mike Kovaleff said the number of catalytic converters being stolen has skyrocketed in recent years because the car parts contain valuable metals and can be sold for as much as $300.
He told The Desert Sun in September that reported converter thefts increased by 200% in 2021 and then by 124% in 2022, with the first four months of 2023 seeing more reported thefts than all of 2022. He said Thursday that around 1,600 catalytic converters are reported stolen in California every month.
Despite that, Kovaleff said police cannot arrest those who they find in possession of catalytic converters that are almost certainly stolen, unless they can identify the vehicle the part was stolen from.
The new law, however, will change that by allowing Palm Springs police to arrest anyone found with a converter who does not have a bill of sale or other documentation that proves that they are the legal owner of it. They can be charged even if police cannot prove it was stolen.
Kovaleff added that the law makes sense because “a catalytic converter is not a very common item for somebody to actually cut off a vehicle” and that when officers do come across people in possession of them, they nearly always also have tools that are used to remove them, which further suggests they are stealing them.
“I have never heard of one of our officers stopping somebody who just happened to be legally possessing a catalytic converter,” he said.
When asked about the possibility of people being arrested when they have the converters legally but are unaware of the law, Kovaleff noted that the law does not require officers to make an arrest but leaves it to their discretion.
“Common sense would prevail by the officers that are dealing with this,” he said.
At one point, Councilmember Ron deHarte asked about the size of the converters, with Kovaleff responding that they are generally two to three feet in size.
“So it’s not something people are just carrying around in their backpack,” said deHarte, who later called the new law a great tool for the department.
Under the law, a person could be charged with a separate misdemeanor for each catalytic converter they possess without proper proof of ownership.
Misdemeanors can be punished with up to a year in jail, but City attorney Jeffrey Ballinger told the council that in his experience, people are typically not receiving jail time for similar offenses. Typically, they get community service or diversion instead.
But Palm Springs officials said the new law will let officers seize the illegally possessed converters, hopefully deterring thefts in the process.
The city law comes after Riverside County passed a similar one earlier this year, which is only enforceable in unincorporated areas. In 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed four new state laws aimed at addressing thefts, including one saying converters can be sold only by licensed dealers or people who can prove they came from their vehicles.
The passage of the Palm Springs law also comes less than two months after the city received a $4.5 million grant from the state that will fund various efforts aimed at addressing common types of theft, including of catalytic converters.
Kovaleff has said about $100,000 from the grant will use to purchase systems to mark identifying information into people’s catalytic converters that should help further deter thefts. He said once those systems are purchased, residents will be able to come in to get their converters etched for free.
Paul Albani-Burgio covers breaking news and the city of Palm Springs. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and email him at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.
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