The Oxford Police Department has announced a partnership with Gateway Tire of Oxford to kick off a new crime prevention program in our city.

There has been an uptick in catalytic converter thefts across the country in recent years. OPD investigators Scott Hollowell and Mike Burks researched this trend and tried to come up with a solution to help prevent this occurrence in Oxford.

Hollowell and Burks found a way to engrave identifying markers on catalytic converters at a minimal cost to any automotive shop in town. It is a way to tie a catalytic converter to a vehicle that it was stolen from and allows scrap metal vendors to identify if the converter had been stolen.

“We’re very proud of Detective Hollowell and Detective Burks for their innovative efforts to help our community,” said Chief Jeff McCutchen. “The Oxford Police Department prides itself in being on the cutting edge of crime prevention.”

OPD will be at Gateway Tire on Feb. 22 to help kickoff this program. This service will be at no cost to the customers who have it done and Gateway will be offering it to any future customers moving forward.

If any other local automotive shop would like to learn about this program or partner with OPD, reach out to OPD Public Information Officer Breck Jones at bjones@oxfordpolice.net.