San Francisco, California’s Sunset District recently launched a pilot program for tracking catalytic converters, NBC Bay Area reports.
The program has residents’ catalytic converters engraved with a number and spray painted with the San Francisco Police Department logo to deter thieves from trying to resell them and to make it less likely for someone to purchase them if it’s apparent it’s been stolen.
Almost 300 residents in the Sunset District signed up for the program, which launched this past Friday with the help of San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio and local police.
Twenty vehicles were marked by technicians at Sunset Auto Care, with the rest of the program’s applicants expected to have their vehicles marked in the coming weeks. Police hope to expand the program to other areas of the city soon.
“We have to do something to prevent and deter. That’s what this is about,” San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott stated. “It's not going to stop thieves from being thieves, but what we do hope for is that if people have a converter stolen it will be easier to identify because we do often recover them.”
