Buying stolen items isn’t a big issue for at least two local pawnbrokers but both supported initiatives that would curb crime in Penticton.
Both Mike Shyrbiak of Mike’s Pawnbrokers and Greg Fourchalk of Quick n’ Easy Pawnbroker said they are already currently logging information about items bought at their stores each day and sending it to local RCMP by fax.
“We log all of our information and we can submit it in an electronic format, but for the RCMP we submit it as a fax. That’s how they’ve asked for it to be,” Shyrbiak said. “We provide them with all the information, name, address, ID, birthday, serial number, description of items. We send them typically a 10-page fax every day. Cost of items, what we paid for every item too.”
Shyrbiak said over the last year only two items bought at his store showed up as stolen, while Fourchalk said in the last six years of managing Quick n’ Easy Pawnbroker he’s only had one item show up on the list.
Related: Penticton council defers on pawn shop stolen goods database
The City of Penticton is working on formalizing a bylaw that would require pawnshops to use an electronic reporting database program called RAPID (Regional Automated Property Information Database).
The bylaw has received first and second reading, but last week council asked staff to provide a penalty fee structure for pawnshops that don’t comply with daily reporting.
Shyrbiak, who’s owned Mike’s Pawnbrokers in Penticton for the past 23 years, said he started sending RCMP detailed information about 15 years ago after a bylaw update at that time.
“If the only change is we’re going to be paying $300 a year to have a program that makes their life easier, it’s not a huge problem to change that,” he said. “They talked about this many years ago, but they talked about a $2,000 tax on our business licence. I thought that was a bit excessive.”
He said he understood that by having the daily lists digitized it might be easier for officers to review them.
Fourchalk said what he knew about the potential upgrade didn’t concern him.
“I think they’re just going to a digital world. Instead of going through as a fax, they’re going to wan an electronic email. It makes it easier for them,” he said.
He said he and his staff have a policy that if they think something isn’t right they don’t buy the item.
“You got to read the person you’re dealing with. If you get a feeling you just pass,” he said.
If council votes in favour of using the RAPID system local RCMP would have access to databases from other communities hooked up to the system including Kelowan, Kamloops and Surrey.
In the recent report to council it was noted that since March 1, when the program was installed in Surrey, police had identified suspects in 17 investigations of theft and break-and-enters.
