12.5.09
Online tool helps bust thieves
By: Encarnacion Pyle - www.dispatch.com
A Columbus police detective sorting through a new online reporting tool noticed that one man had been selling lots of silver jewelry to pawnshops.

He tracked down the guy and discovered that he had been slipping pieces into his pocket at his job at a jewelry-supply company.

"It turns out he took $40,000 worth of silver over six to seven months," said Columbus detective Jack E. Addington. "To make a recovery like that all at one time, that's huge."

About three dozen area pawnshops and stores that deal in secondhand merchandise have joined a Columbus program that makes it easier for police to find stolen goods.

Columbus City Councilman Andrew J. Ginther plans to introduce legislation Dec 14 that would expand the use of the online reporting tool, which has been used for two years to track stolen property taken to scrap-metal yards.

"We don't condone theft, and as a business we have no interest in buying stolen property," said John Kinney, a manager with Lev's Pawn Shop, a chain that has 19 stores in Ohio and Indiana.

Ohio law requires pawnshops and other secondhand stores to collect certain information about every transaction, including the date and time, name of the individual, value of the pawn or purchase, and a description of the item or its serial number.

The online program helps save time for pawnshops and police.

"We have moved from scouring thousands of pieces of paper a week to being able to use the program to flag items that we are looking for in a matter of seconds," Addington said.

Police look for patterns, unusual sales, names of known criminals and items reported stolen.

Ginther's proposed ordinance would expand a city contract with Leads Online LLC to allow the shops to electronically report that information to police. The contract would cost $48,000 over three years and would be paid for with money seized in drug cases.

Since May, the pilot program has helped police recover more than $300,000 in stolen property.

Unfortunately, most people end up paying to get their property back because of state protections for pawnshops, Addington said. "I think it is completely wrong. but the good news, if there is any, is that they usually won't pay full value."

People can file a civil action to keep from paying as long as they have proof that an item belongs to them. Addington's advice: Mark valuables with initials or numbers in ultraviolet ink and report stolen items to police as quickly as possible.

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