Crime Prevention - 1 March 2021

On this month’s Crimecall Sergeant Graham Kavanagh was in studio to make the public aware of the recent increase in relation to theft of Catalytic Converters. The increase in these thefts is a reflection of the rise in price of palladium and rhodium metals.

Sergeant Kavanagh gave a breakdown of the statistics covering the period January 2019 to December 2020. He highlighted the ongoing Garda operation targeting these crimes and spoke of the recent successes. The public were given advice on how to avoid becoming a victim of this crime and were told that An Garda Síochána are taking a multiagency approach to this type of crime.

Catalytic Convertor Thefts

€1.8 million euro worth
2800 Thefts
71% in Dublin
Car parks: 40%
Roadside: 20%
Driveways: 15%

Catalytic-Convertor

Ongoing Garda Operations / Meath Seizure:

Ongoing operations: Targeting the people concerned in stealing catalytic convertors. We are appealing to the public to come forward with any information they have regarding the handling and processing of these items.

Meath Seizure: On the 11 February, Gardaí seized 110 catalytic converters together with €27,500 euro and £55,000 in sterling during a search operation at a premises in Co. Meath. Investigations are ongoing.

110-catalytic-converters

Crime Prevention Advice:

Defensive parking near a wall can make jacking up a vehicle difficult, making this type of theft more difficult too.
Encouraging owners to garage their vehicle whenever possible.
Park in well-lit busy areas.
Encourage installation of security lights to come on automatically when someone approaches a car parked in a drive.
Look out for people working under cars and report suspicious activity to Gardaí.

Avoid catalytic convertor theft’

Defensive Parking

Park in Garage

Park in Well-Lit Busy Area

Security Lights

Report Suspicious Activity

www.simi.ie for advice on catalytic converter fixes

Avoid-catalytic-convertor-theft

An Garda Síochána Engagement and Enforcement with Metal Industry

We are engaging with the motor, recycling / scrap metal industries and are encouraging premises or businesses engaged in the handling of catalytic converters to ensure the provenance of same.

Regarding the disposal of these items we would like the public and the metal industry to know that:

The waste metal industry is a national waste enforcement priority for 2021
Unauthorised sites will be closed down.
Focus on how high value waste streams such as batteries and catalytic converters are being handled and who is supplying these items to the authorised industry.
Coordination with Local authorities / Revenue/ Dept of Social Protection and An Garda Síochána.