Catalytic Converter Engraving Appointments

5510 Clark Avenue,Lakewood CA 90712

25 January, 2023

Description

On Wednesday, January 25, Lakewood’s Public Safety Department will provide 25 residents with free engraving of their vehicle’s catalytic converter. Appointments are required, and residents are limited to one appointment per home address. Vehicles will be engraved by Community Safety Officers in the south parking lot of the Burns Community Center. Catalytic converters are part of a gasoline-powered vehicle’s exhaust system. Precious metals inside the catalytic converter, platinum, rhodium and palladium, are used as the chemical properties of these metals reduce pollutants emitted into the air. These precious metals are in scarce supply, and have a very high resell value. This is why catalytic converters are valuable to criminals. Once removed from the vehicle, a catalytic converter is recycled which then provides criminals with a small amount of the highly prized precious metals. Most gas-powered vehicles are manufactured with the catalytic converter easily accessible for repairs. Unfortunately, this means criminals have direct access to them. Criminals can remove a catalytic converter in less than a minute, using just a saw and a jack. Lakewood residents are encouraged to protect their vehicle’s catalytic converter by engraving their license plate number onto it, or having an anti-theft shield installed on their vehicle. Lakewood is also offering rebates to residents who have a catalytic converter anti-theft device installed on their vehicle on or after March 22, 2022. For more information on rebates, visit https://www.lakewoodcity.org/Residents/Public-Safety/Catalytic-Converter-Rebate.