Shoreline community comes together to combat catalytic converter crime

SCC Automotive student marks a catalytic converter
Photo courtesy SCC

For Shoreline Community College (SCC), the word community isn’t just part of the College’s name, it’s a passion. 

Last month on April 29, 2023, three Shoreline automotive students and Amber Avery-Graff, Tenure-Track Automotive Instructor, worked together alongside members of SCC’s Security Team and the Shoreline Police Department at the Catalytic Converter Marketing Event to engrave over 50 catalytic converters for the community. 

Last summer Shoreline staged the first event which was students only, then expanded in the fall to include SCC faculty and staff. Both were incredibly well received, which led to last month's event which was open to all interested members within the greater Shoreline community.

Catalytic converters contain precious metals. It takes less than 90 seconds for thieves to roll under a vehicle, cut the pipes on either side, and leave with the converter.

“A catalytic converter is typically over one thousand dollars to replace, so that’s a huge expense,” says Avery-Graff. By engraving the last eight digits of a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) onto the converter, it can be traced back to its original vehicle which makes it much more difficult to sell.

For the event, community members pre-registered and were greeted by Gregory Cranson, Acting Director of Safety and Security at SCC, members of Shoreline’s Security Team, and members of the Shoreline Police Department.

SCC automotive students and instructor
volunteered for the event.
Photo courtesy SCC

From there Shoreline automotive students Trevor Buehler, Christian Mariano, and Felipe Tores along with Avery-Graff worked together to take the cars back to the automotive building and spray paint each converter with bright paint. 

Even at night it is obvious to anyone who sees it that the converter has been marked. 

This process acts as a deterrent to help keep the catalytic converter from being stolen and can also be a way for police to locate victims of this type of theft so they can press charges.

Like a well-oiled machine, Avery-Graff and her students were able to move each car through the process in roughly ten minutes. 

“Students are in school 4 days a week 8 hours a day, so for students to come in and volunteer their time on a day off is pretty amazing,” says Avery-Graff.

The community response to the event was extremely enthusiastic, with many members already voicing their excitement for the next event, eager to encourage their neighbors and spouses to attend. 

President of Shoreline Community College, Dr. Jack Kahn had this to say about the event. 

“Shoreline Community College is extremely pleased to work directly with the city on projects that will benefit our community. 

"Chief Park and her team have been extremely collaborative, and we are so excited that this event had such a positive impact and look forward to many other events with the city.”

Founded in 1964, Shoreline Community College offers more than 100 rigorous academic and professional/technical degrees and certificates to meet the lifelong learning needs of its diverse students and communities.