A Houston police officer pulls out a stolen catalytic converter after checking under a vehicle as part of an investigation, Friday, June 4, 2021, in Houston.

Possessing or selling a used or “cut” catalytic converter without proper documentation would be illegal in Houston under an ordinance proposed by the Turner administration this week in a bid to reverse surging thefts of the valuable emissions-control device from parked cars.

The thefts have soared across Houston since the pandemic began, leaving thousands of car owners facing costly repairs as police struggle to clamp down on the illegal sale of stolen parts.

On Thursday, Mayor Sylvester Turner’s administration detailed a proposal to ban sales of used catalytic converters except those carried out by city’s roughly 100 registered metal recycling facilities. For all unregistered resellers, the proposed ban would make it illegal to possess a catalytic converter that has been cut apart to extract the valuable metals sought by thieves.

The new regulations come one month after a veteran Harris County deputy was shot and killed while confronting a trio of catalytic converter thieves, and a year after Houston Police Chief Troy Finner ordered metal recyclers who purchase catalytic converters to begin documenting their dealings in a real-time electronic database.

The devices, part of a car’s exhaust system located near the muffler, contain a mix of precious metals prized by thieves looking to cash in on its rising resale value. Functioning converters react with pollutants in car exhaust, turning them into less toxic chemicals. They are required by law to be installed in most vehicles to control pollution.

On HoustonChronicle.com: What to know about soaring Houston catalytic converter thefts in 2022, and how to protect yourself

Catalytic converter thefts in Houston have surged in recent years due to supply shortages and increased global demand for cleaner cars. Houston police recorded a five-fold increase in theft cases since 2019, with 2022 on track for a record-breaking year at 3,200 thefts so far.

City officials hope the proposed rules will make it harder for thieves to traffic in stolen converters.

"If people are bringing catalytic converters to businesses by five, six, or the dozens, common sense will tell you that they did not legitimately get them," Turner said Thursday in a statement. "The proposed city ordinance would require anyone in possession of a cut-out catalytic converter to show proof of ownership and have documentation. I believe this process will assist police in their investigations and help identify criminals."

The ordinance closes a crucial loophole in state law by limiting business-to-business sales, City Attorney Arturo Michel told members of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee Thursday.

While the new law may not prevent dealers from shipping stolen catalytic converters to unscrupulous buyers across state lines, Michel said, it will boost police officers’ ability to apprehend thieves by criminalizing possession of the cut parts.

Under existing city regulations, police cannot file charges against a person with catalytic converters that have been cut open, a tell-tale sign of theft. Legitimate mechanics unbolt the part when uninstalling it, making stolen ones — typically cut off by thieves who crawl under vehicles at night — easy to spot.

“If you have a cut catalytic converter in your vehicle, whether it is one or several, it is going to aid an investigation into organized crime theft,” Michel said. “That is going to be a valuable tool for HPD."

The majority of sawed-off catalytic converters police officers find are in cars, not mechanics’ shops or scrap yards, said Commander Salam Zia of the Houston Police Department’s property and financial crimes division. Working in pairs or small groups, thieves quickly can saw off dozens of converters from rows of delivery vehicles, church vans and school buses.

To deter thieves, Zia said, police need the authority to seize stashes of stolen parts for investigation when they uncover them.

Without the proposed unlawful possession charge, police “won’t have cause to seize them” and are forced to let suspected thieves go, Zia said. That makes the theft cases difficult to solve at present, he said, because many converters police suspect are stolen cannot be matched to specific vehicles and victims.

Council members on Thursday largely supported the initiative, but questioned whether it does enough to target the city’s underground network of scrapyards and recyclers willing to deal in stolen parts.

“Until we control across state lines, criminals are just going to send (stolen catalytic converters) across state lines,” Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin said.

Council Member Abbie Kamin said the proposed ordinance will help police officers with enforcement, but added, “We are going to need interstate and federal action to address black market and interstate sales.”

While data on stolen parts is scant, many mechanics in the Houston auto industry suspect catalytic converters nabbed by thieves are ending up in Louisiana or other states with less stringent laws.

Joe Guevara, a mechanic at One Stop Auto in southwest Houston, said the stolen parts likely are shipped out of state in bulk. Guevara, who estimates his shop replaces between 7 and 10 stolen catalytic converters for customers each day, is skeptical the new ordinance will fix the problem.

“You can make as many regulations as you want, but if there is no one on the ground to enforce them, it is useless,” he said Thursday.

Complicating efforts to deter thieves is the premium price stolen catalytic converters fetch at resale. Each part can garner thieves up to $750, depending on the quality of the metals it contains, said Dennis Laviage, owner of C&D Scrap Metal.

For automobile owners, the price to replace a stolen converter can be many times what thieves get for them, especially if the car requires the same replacement model rather than a universal model. Most owners will have to pay $1,000 to $3,000 to repair their cars, a cost not covered by basic liability insurance, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Laviage, whose scrap metal business is located inside city limits, called the proposed ordinance an ineffective strategy. Like Guevara, he said thieves simply will sell stolen converters elsewhere in Harris County or smuggle them to other cities and states.

Texas ranks second, behind California, as the state with the largest number of converter thefts each year, a trend Turner hopes will ebb as more municipalities enact restrictions.

“The more jurisdictions that take affirmative steps to combat catalytic converter theft should result in fewer loopholes to avoid prosecution,” he said.

Nora Mishanec is a Hearst fellow for the Houston Chronicle.

She previously worked on the breaking news team at The San Francisco Chronicle, and as a reporter at The Register-Star, the nation's second-oldest newspaper.

Charlie Zong is a reporter on the digital desk. A Houston native, he joined the Houston Chronicle as a summer 2021 intern. He is a senior studying philosophy, computer science and journalism at Duke University.

Sanger ISD Challenge Program kids are the so-called worst of the worst behaved. And it's here that they find a home. A place where they are listened to and respected.