Police are investigating 9 thefts from vehicle at Rider University - part of a recent series of incidents in the region.
LAWRENCE -- A rash of catalytic converter thefts from vehicles parked in Rider University lots recently is part of regional trend, township police say.
A catalytic converter. File photo. Lawrence police have a detective assigned to the thefts, which number nine on campus in recent weeks. Three of them were this past weekend.
Lawrence police spokesman Lt. Joseph Amodio and a national insurance group say thieves years ago figured out that the devices contain one of three precious metals - rhodium, platinum or palladium - that can fetch cash on the black market.
Scrap dealers pay anywhere from $20 to $240 for converters - and possibly as high as $640 for a converter from a diesel vehicle, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) said recently.
Amodio said Rider and Lawrence are not the only victims. He said Lawrence police have heard about similar patterns of thefts in Princeton, Hamilton and South Brunswick recently.
Converters have been a target of solo thieves and larger theft rings in the past decade.
From 2008 to 2015, a total of 25,394 catalytic converters were stolen nationwide and they increased 23 percent in that time period, the NICB says.
The numbers are from a review of insurance claims data and reflect only known, insured thefts, so the actual number of all catalytic converter thefts is likely much higher, the NICB says.
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Thieves crawl under the vehicle and cut the devices from the exhaust system - which is exposed, police and the NICB say.
The catalytic converter reduces the potency of toxic emissions from an internal combustion engine, with the precious metals acting as catalysts, removing many toxic elements from the exhaust as it works its way out of the vehicle, the insurance bureau says.
Police and the NICB said areas with large parking lots are the most common targets - like airports, shopping centers and office parks.
Amodio said many of the Rider vehicle belong to students and are parked on campus all week and the thefts go unnoticed until students get in their cars to drive home for the weekend.
No one vehicle type or size appears to be targeted, Amodio said.
The NICB, though, says thieves often target sport-utility vehicles because their ground clearance is sufficient to gain access to the converter without having to deploy a jack, saving time.
And an aggressive thief can easily collect 10 to 15 or more converters in a single day.
The NICB said a less-scientific study, a Google search of "catalytic converter thefts," produced news stories "from Michigan to North Carolina and from California to New York--just this summer alone."
Rider University spokeswoman Kristine Brown said the university is working closely with police and has shared video footage from parking lots with detectives.
The university sent an email to the campus community saying they have increased public safety in parking lots and encouraged the community to report suspicious activity to the public safety department.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.