Windsor Gardens Life

Windsor Life Page 16 Dear Cop Shop The Cop Shop is operated by volunteers who work with the Denver Police Department to assist with citizen complaints, accident reports and various other activities that would normally require a trip to the district station. The Leetsdale Cop Shop has no fixed dates to be at WG at the time of this publication, but will return very soon! In the meantime, keep an eye on the Windsor Life and Windsor Gardens Facebook Page for updates, or feel free to contact us at 303-329-0500 or leetsdalecopshop@hotmail.com .. Stay safe and be kind to all you meet. C ommunity O perated P olicing S torefront COP Shop @ WG Dear Cop Shop: The catalytic converter on my car was stolen. What is that and why would anyone want it? Dumfounded Dear Dumfounded: Weird things are happening all over and catalytic converter theft is on the rise all across our nation and internationally! It takes a thief only a couple of minutes at night to slide under a vehicle and cut out the converter, which is between the engine and exhaust. The catalytic converter is on all cars produced after the mid-‘70s and helps reduce harmful exhaust gases that cause smog. The thieves don’t want the whole converter; they want what it contains…precious metals like platinum, rhodium and palladiam, which are in high demand in the vehicle and electronics industries. Cars, light duty trucks and motorcycles can have 2 to 6 grams of the metals, large engine SUVs and trucks have 6 to 30 grams. There are 28+ grams in an ounce. Thieves sell the converters to metal dealers and recyclers for up to $200 who then extract and resell the metals. Rhodium can go for up to $6,000 per ounce. Currently, platinum is trading at about $35 a gram, palladium about $77 and rhodium for $514 a gram on the open market. A night of stealing a truck load of converters can net a thief a tidy profit making this a highly lucrative endeavor right now. To prevent thefts, park in well lighted areas and near entrances, park your car in the garage with the door shut and locked, and calibrate your car’s alarm to go off when it senses vibration. If you need it, the non-emergency police number is 720-913-2000, option 0. Leetsdale Cop Shop is available to you at 303-329-0500 (call or text) or e-mail us at leetsdalecopshop@hotmail.com .