Four clearly marked police cars in the San Francisco Police Department fleet were relieved of their catalytic converters this week by scrap metal thieves.
Even though the theft took place in front of a police building, no one is confident that the thieves will be caught. A veteran of the force told Mission Local that this wasn’t the first theft from a police vehicle.
“On September 12, 2022 at approximately 1 p.m., a San Francisco Police Officer discovered a marked police truck parked in the area of 16th Street and De Haro Street had its catalytic converter stolen,” confirmed the SFPD media relations department. “The officer inspected other police vehicles, and discovered that another marked police truck and two marked police vans also had their catalytic converters stolen.”
The theft was especially brazen because it took place just outside the Special Operations Bureau building at 17th and DeHaro, which houses the SWAT Team and Bomb Squad. And while there is no sign proclaiming this a police structure, it is, unsubtly, surrounded by many police vehicles. Along DeHaro and at a parking lot entrance on nearby Carolina Street, signs note “police vehicles only.”
“The people engaging in this activity really don’t think much of the police if they think they can steal catalytic converters from the best of us,” said an SFPD higher-up.
The city of San Francisco has a history of catalytic converters being stolen. A major insurance adjustor released a report last year that showed a 175 percent increase in such thefts over the course of a year. On the west coast, thieves don’t care about what municipal vehicles suffer for. $70,000 in damage was caused by thieves in Oregon. Some people in Seattle were shot at by cat thieves.