Catalytic converter thefts could decrease with marked VIN numbers [Video]

BANGOR, Maine — Eastern Maine Community College automotive technology students got hands-on experience engraving catalytic converters to deter theft on Tuesday morning.

The college collaborated with the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicle’s Enforcement Division to host Maine’s first free “Etch and Catch” program.

Catalytic converters, devices that depollute exhaust emissions, are vulnerable to theft because they contain valuable metals and are easy to remove. Marking a converter with the vehicle’s identification number can help decrease theft and help to track them down, according to police.

Maine passed a law in 2022 requiring vehicles being sold to have their converters engraved to make them more traceable.

“So, you can’t just take a catalytic converter to a recycler or sell it to anybody now without it being marked, so that alone probably cut a lot of theft,” Derek Dinsmore, senior detective of the Maine …