South San Francisco, CA August 10, 2022
“California is the #1 State in the Country of catalytic converter thefts,” Senator Josh Becker explains during the City of South San Francisco’s Virtual Town Hall meeting held in response to the current crime trends here. In 2021, State Farm alone paid $23Million to California consumers due to catalytic converter thefts. Senator Becker spoke of the five laws before them in Sacramento, in response to this increase of thefts, to toughen penalties for this property theft crime. In this video, Senator Becker explains these laws being considered.
Mayor Nagales explains how 200 South City residents took advantage of having their catalytic converters etched with VIN numbers and how this is being presented State wide, requiring vehicle owners to have this done prior to sale of the vehicle. In addition, this evening at the Council meeting, they will bring forth an ‘Urgency Ordinance’ making it a crime to have a catalytic converter in your position without proof of ownership.
Police Chief Scott Campbell states vehicle thefts have remained consistent since 2019 at around 1 vehicle theft a day. He further explains that most vehicles stolen have had high quality items in view of the vehicle including luggage, laptops, etc, which an upward trend in work trucks with high value tools. Since 2021 there have been 25 arrests with 16 arrests being made on the spot, the others via warrants. In addition, 61 persons have been arrested while being in possession of burglary tools.
Above are a few highlights gleaned from the meeting which continued on with a Question and Answer segment moderated by Leslie Arroyo.
To view the archive of this virtual town hall meeting CLICK HERE.
More on crime trends in South San Francisco CLICK HERE