Permits needed to sell catalytic converters in Lincoln

There have been 800 catalytic converter thefts so far in 2021.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – If you want to sell a catalytic converter in Lancaster County you’ll need a special $5 permit.

Police say this won’t prevent catalytic converter thieves from going out of town to make the sale, but it will make them a bigger target.

“It exposes them longer, in the sense that if you have to possess,” says Lincoln Police Chief Biran Jackson. “I may not go to Grand Island until next week. And that means you have to possess it that much longer; it gives us an opportunity to potentially identify and make an arrest or an intervention in those types of crimes.”

The new ordinance hasn’t been in effect for long enough to show if it’s making a difference.

The $5 permit is good for a full year.

There have been 800 catalytic converter thefts so far in 2021.