Theft of some kind makes up nearly three-fifths of crime in-district since 2020, half of which is vehicular theft. In particular, there has been intense focus on catalytic converter theft. For the past four years, we have seen an “explosion” of catalytic converter thefts due to their precious metals like palladium, platinum and rhodium, which tripled in value in 2020. The past year, however, that’s changed. Thefts are declining for the same reason they were spiking four years ago: the value of precious metals like rhodium has changed dramatically in a short time period. Congressman Jim Baird explained that spiking value was the “real driver” of catalytic converter thefts, stating, “As the price of those metals go up, [thieves] are more interested in them.” Logically, as palladium and rhodium collapsed – rhodium fell from nearly $30,000 in April 2021 to around $4,000 last year – so did thefts.

 

Local and state elected officials have little to no influence on precious metal price fluctuations, but they can influence the risk assessment any one person makes in trying to steal precious metals. The state legislature passed laws in 2022 and 2023 that made converters more traceable, their sales and possession more difficult, and made their theft a higher priority for state departments and agencies. The City Council went even further and banned the possession of a single unconnected catalytic converter in April last year. 

 

Preventative measures such as VIN etching can help deter thefts and make it easier for police to track stolen converters. By focusing on the buyers of previously identified stolen parts, the police can break up the rings of buyers and sellers like has recently happened in Sacramento and Philadelphia, which will further deter thefts in the first place. High traffic areas like Van Nuys see higher catalytic converter thefts. Jillian will hold community events in these areas where vehicle owners can get their catalytic converters etched with their VIN numbers. 

 

But even with collapsing prices and these anti-black market policies, thefts continue with tragic consequences, and they continue for the same reason “tough-on-crime laws” in the 1980s and 1990s didn’t work: fundamentally, crime is tied to income inequality.

 

In addition to vehicle theft, copper wire theft has become an increasing problem across LA. These thefts leave neighborhoods in darkness, and cost the city millions of dollars in repairs. Recently, Los Angeles launched a pilot program to replace 104 traditional street lights with solar street lights in Van Nuys. Although these lights are initially more expensive to install, they don’t connect to the grid and therefore, don’t require any copper wiring. Their higher costs can be recouped from the costs saved by no longer needing to fund expensive copper theft task forces or replacing broken lights that have had their copper removed by thieves. Jillian will expand the solar street light pilot program, deterring thefts and contributing to a greener city.

 

In addition to non-punitive crime deterrents like improving street lighting, the City of Los Angeles needs to continue its ambitious pilot program, BIG: LEAP (Basic Income Guaranteed: Los Angeles Economic Income Program), which gives randomly selected low income families $1000 per month for a year. BIG: LEAP not only helped families afford basic necessities like food, clothing and rent but disproved notions that it would discourage people to work (full-time employment actually rose among participants and they stayed in those jobs longer) and helped them find safer places to live.

 

If we’re going to be honest about theft, we need to be honest about the full scope of those affected. We can’t just talk about catalytic converter theft and ignore wage theft, where here in Los Angeles, an estimated $1.6 to $2.5 billion in wages were stolen from LA area workers over the past decade. The state has been unable to address claims in a timely manner, with a massive backlog that is especially bad in the Los Angeles field office.  

 

While this is a state problem, at the local level, addressing that backlog means getting serious about supporting enforcement of wage theft ordinances. The City’s Office of Wage Standards is tasked with this mission. Last year, the City Controller’s office released a report showing vacancies by department, and the Bureau of Contract Administration, which houses the Office of Wage Standards, has a vacancy rate of over 25%. Only 7 out of 43 offices have a higher vacancy rate. We shouldn’t be cutting these positions: we should be giving them the financial and logistical support the problem demands.