Pawn Shops, Second Hand Store Rules Up for Discussion

Monday, November 07, 2005 03:59 AM

Tonight, Prince George City Council will look at a draft of a new by-law that would cover pawn shops and second hand stores.

Under the draft by-law, detailed records of the item and the identity of the person who brought it in to the shop, would have to be recorded electronically. Those records would have to be kept for 7 years, and the item in question could not be sold for 30 days from its arrival in the shop. By having the records kept electronically, enforcement officers could examine records through their own computers.

The by-law is pretty much the same as rules adopted in Vancouver, Chilliwack and Kelowna.

City Staff believe if all communities adopt the same rules, then pawn shops and second hand stores won’t fall victim to criminals who may try to use the stores as a way to dump stolen property.

In addition to looking at the by-law, Council will be asked to approve a plan for public consultation on the changes so all stakeholders and the public can offer input and learn how a new by-law would work.

The package put before Council also calls for the hiring or dedication of one civilian co-ordinator and one peace officer for 20 hours a week each to ensure the new rules are enforced.

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Posted on Monday, November 07, 2005 03:59 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: fedup on November 7 2005 8:51 AM

Good idea now the cops can spend more time ambushing people on thier way to or from work because thats where the money is.I had my home broke into their wasn't a officer in the neigbourhood so they never came to investagate now what they will just wait and see if it shows up on thier computer?

Posted by: owl on November 7 2005 10:43 AM

So those stolen goods which may have been sold this way will be fenced underground and/or shipped to other communities ....

It will be interesting to see whether there will be significantly fewer B&Es in the city in the next couple of years and whether a pawn shop or two will go broke.

I wonder if anyone has followed the situation in the cities where such a law already exists, if it has existed long enough.

I would think that the police would have a reasonable idea of how much business, if any, is done through pawn shops. If they know how much is stolen in the community, it would not take too long to figure out how much business each shop would have to do on average so that they could determine whether the transactions through such outlets is significant - 5%; 20%; 50%; 75% ... ? What is it?

Posted by: Chester on November 7 2005 10:50 PM

I don't have an axe to grind with Pawn Shop owners, but I do wonder where all of their stuff comes from? Seems just a little suspicious (obvious) to me how we can support so many of them. We must have the most pawn shops per capita in the country.

There has been much discussion on revitilizing the downtown, but,pawn shops, check cashing stores, second hand stores, needle exchanges, homeless shelters really don't contribute to downtown re-development and retail expansion.

The clientiele we are attracting are a result of what we have to offer them.

Let's think outside the box for one minute. The decisions council made yesterday are responsible for the results or consequences we are experiencing today.

You have two choices. Change the people who make these decisions, or change the way they think. Think about how many of them are campaigning on their track record and determine if they are taking you in the direction you want to go. Chester