Wow, so glad we have the police to provide us with lots of useless advice in "preventing" theft. If only we had some people in charge of finding and catching these thieves.

Good evening,

Just saw Tom's comment and wanted to take a moment and respond. I can understand how when crimes are happening that it's easy to get frustrated.But let me assure you that the Danville PD is working these cases and doing their utmost to find the criminals perpetrating these thefts as soon as possible.

That being said, the partnership between law enforcement and the community is one that is invaluable in helping both prevent and solve crime.

Our part of that partnership is in informing the public when there is a threat, and also providing information on how to lessen your chances of being the next victim. The more people we can make aware of this situation, the greater the chance that vehicle owners will take more precautions.

This creates a situation where there are fewer targets for the bad guys, which will either convince them to take more risks (which could lead to them being caught) or will seek greener pastures elsewhere.

Additionally, encouraging the community to keep an eye out for each other creates a safer environment overall. Our part in that is in educating the residents on what trends we are seeing in crime and knowing what to watch for.

I can assure you that Chief Simpkins is very concerned about this trend and he and his staff are doing everything in their power to bring it to an end.

Hope this helps clarify things a bit. Anyone with information on the thefts is encouraged to contact Lt Allan Shields at (925) 314-3700 or ashields@danville.ca.gov.

Have a great weekend!

Geoff

Geoff Gillette
Public Information Coordinator
Town of Danville
(925) 314-3336
ggillette@danville.ca.gov.

What do you want Tom? Your own personal officer to come park in your driveway?

I want information like Geoff Gillette wrote in the comments instead of "The best way for residents to prevent these thefts is keeping your vehicle either in the garage, a side yard or a well-lit area."

There are 50,000 people in Danville. Probably only a couple people stealing catalytic converters, and a hundred or so police? I want to know that the people we pay to protect us are on the job and have a plan. Not that I, a resident, need to build another garage to house my property from a couple thieves.

Geoff, thanks for your response.

Do you really think Danville has "100 or so" officers?

My next door neighbor was a victim of this. The thieves are very quiet and fast. They did this in a cul de sac that is very close knit so this can happen anywhere. Maybe a good surveillance system could have helped the police but none was present. Maybe time to consider one to help the police identify criminals.

We had ours welded by a reputable muffler man,(check Yelp) at Broadway Mufflers in Walnut Creek. He was recommended by another good mechanic and we were very impressed by his integrity and wisdom. This crime is rampant and maybe the crooks will move on; if enough of us can hinder them and this very expensive; to replace it, crime.

I drive a Sequoia and had the catalytic converter stolen while at the Dublin movie theaters.
If they try it again at my home in Danville, they will get up to know my 12 gauge up close and very personal.

Tom,
Do you have any specific ideas that the police could use to catch the thieves? I am sure that they would be glad to have your thoughts and expertise on the matter. DPD has about 4-5 patrol officers on duty at all times for a town of about 44,000 and about 15-17,000 households.

Any advice on how to best use those 5 officers would be greatly appreciated I am sure.

Don't hold back. I am sure that you have many great ideas.

"See something, Say something" is the best solution here.
Be a good neighbor, keep your eyes open, do something to catch these criminals.
Get involved.

Hey folks remember one important thing. And this message should go to the DPD which I believe they know already.

Removing the C. Converter is just step one. Next they must sell the converter.

That's where the Police need to focus.

Thank for listening, Julia Pardini, from Alamo

Maybe PD can do a "sting" operation, get a Truck park it somewhere visible and GPS the cat converter then have a TV show called "Bait car." and catch these self entitled idiots. :) LOL

Good morning,

Lots of good commentary and suggestions on here. Thanks for weighing in.

@Tom - appreciate the feedback. As a policy, we try to keep our press releases to one page, so we condense information down for the reporters and those who use our e-news service to receive the releases. Thus I didn't give the more expanded response you were looking for in the original release. I was glad I was able to provide a little more context.

As has been mentioned, we have a finite amount of resources, but I can tell you that they are on the lookout for these thieves. But there is a lot of ground to cover. That's where taking precautions can help, by limiting availability.

@Kieran - thanks for sharing your neighbor's experience. It also allows me the opportunity to talk about another way for the community to partner with law enforcement. We have a program where residents can register if they have security cameras on their properties. When a crime takes place in a neighborhood, we check that list and see if any security cam footage exists that shows the criminals. There's more info on this program in our online newsletter the Danville Today Online Web Link

@Jayne&John - good suggestion. Having the extra welding does help safeguard the converter and creates more challenges for the bad guys. Let's do all we can to make it too much of a hassle to come to Danville.

@Tomp - We're big fans of "See Something, Say Something" so thanks for posting it.

@Julia - I can't comment on ongoing investigations, but we're looking at the case from all angles to try to find our culprits.

Thanks again for all the great comments and feedback.

Have a great day.

Geoff


Geoff Gillette
Public Information Coordinator
Town of Danville
(925) 314-3336
ggillette@danville.ca.gov

Blaming the Police and accusing them of not doing enough is down right stupidity. the 21 Danville Policer officers dont have enough resources to deal with these petty crimes. Id much rather have them investing their efforts on Important Drug and/or violent crimes.
Having our possessions broken, damaged or stolen is just a risk we take owning anything. Stop whining and Take responsibility and park your car in the garage. If you park in a lot have a motion sensing alarm. Or do nothing & risk getting your car being damaged/stolen. S**t happens and when its your s**t deal with it.

Danville has 31 sworn police officers.

Oh, thank you lord, Julia from Alamo has weighed in with her expertise. My night is now complete.

The question should be asked if any city or area with this type of theft problem has figured out how to solve it. Until then, requiring car vin numbers to be engraved into the converters might help trace them if and when found. The bait car idea with hidden cameras recording seems like a great idea.

My word, so much sympathy for blaming the victim. I'm surprised that Shaun Donovan's suggestions to do a better job locking our stuff up get so many "likes." He presumes we don't have a full garage. My kid's junk car that sits in the driveway has as much platinum in its catalytic converter as the Jaguar in my garage. These thieves don't care which one they get. And once we've all garaged our cars and the thieves start using a wire hook to disengage the garage door opener and get in, what then? Should we buy locking cabinets for our tools and even more expensive security systems? Where would the property owner's responsibility and costs end?

The better, and more affordable solution, is boring police work.

In my previous community, we worked with the local Sheriff to coordinate watches. The police would stake out a neighborhood and monitor _every_ car that entered and exited after midnight. They ran the plates of each car and found less than half were registered to local addresses. Those that did not belong were tailed. More than a few of those panicked and ran or quickly left. It turns out our rash of car thefts (not just catalytic converters) was imported labor from neighboring towns. After catching a few known thieves and chasing several others away, the thefts stopped for the year.

These thefts are not committed by waves of random criminals. It's going to be just a few thugs with no respect for property. God forbid they run across a home owner taking out the trash and we discover they also have no respect for life.

And Longtime Resident, your attack on Julia is not helping. Julia's suggestions are already in place with junk and scrap metal dealers because they are good suggestions. But the thieves have channels that are willing to look the other way to make some easy money. Crime has zero costs (unless you get caught) so $20 for a catalytic converter that could be sold for $100 and costs you $600 to replace will keep some people working all night.

The police have to double their shifts at night, track these guys down, and put them out of business. Then we can go back to insulting each other and making fun of our stupid ideas.

People that own cars, trucks and SUVs with high ground clearance should consider either buying a catalytic converter locking device, parking in a garage or having a muffler shop weld on a protecting device.

A friend of mine lost his two converters when he was parked at a trailhead in the Sierras. $2800 to repair.

There are more criminals than police that is a given. So, it is our responsibility to the best of our ability, to keep a watch on our own vehicles and property. Criminals are sneaky and quick cause they don't want to be caught. But don't make it easy for them. Use whatever deterrent you have available.