Six catalytic converters stolen per day in Fresno in 2022. New task force tackles crime
Fresno entered a catalytic converter task force aimed at new efforts to control the pervasive crime that leaders have traditionally said was hard to prosecute, the Fresno City Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.
The California Statewide Catalytic Converter Task Force is made up of several counties primarily from the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.
After skyrocketing in the past two years, catalytic converters thefts have fallen so far this year in Fresno, numbers from police show.
On average, there were 5.71 catalytic converter thefts each day in Fresno in 2022. That was an uptick from 2021, when there were slightly more than four thefts each day.
So far in 2023, there have been 375 stolen — or about 0.67 stolen per day. That change comes before the new task force.
The city of Fresno passed an ordinance in February in an attempt to make prosecution for the thefts easier for law enforcement and harsher for thieves.
Thefts of the car part that can take a few minutes to steal and then be fenced for hundreds of dollars could be hard to prosecute without thieves being caught in the act, law enforcement has said.
Nationally, the crime grew from from 1,298 reported in 2018 to 52,206 in 2021, according to claims data from the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
The California task force will take advantage of the new ordinance, City Attorney Andrew Janz said in a news release.
“Joining this task force reaffirms Fresno’s commitment to public safety and justice,” he said. ”We are happy that the City Council has taken a leadership role in this matter.”
This story was originally published September 6, 2023 at 7:24 AM.
