Are pawnshops in Prince George aiding thieves in selling stolen goods?
MyPGNow spoke with local second-hand dealers and the RCMP to try and get an idea of where stolen items are ending up.
The first thing to know about pawn shops is that the City of Prince George has a bylaw mandating that the serial number of every item that comes in must be entered into a system connected with the RCMP, called Rapid.
The RCMP enter serial numbers of items that are stolen into the same database and if a matching one comes up, the item is then verified and taken from the pawnshop.
Ryan Hambler, Assistant Manager of Cash Canada Pawn in PG said they run serial numbers through the police database usually once a day.
“We work with the police closely every time to try to find anything they’re looking for. We check if it’s here, check any names that they bring us to see if that person is pawning with us. Anyone who does come up that have pawned any stolen items, that account is completely locked. All of their information including ID numbers, addresses, phone numbers, pictures, entire account – everything they’ve ever pawned gets transferred over to the police.”
Hambler added that they require photo identification from everyone that pawns with Cash Canada.
“I deal with a lot of the stolen items that come in here. It’s very few and far between, it’s not as much as people think.”
Brenda Lothrop, who owns Aces Pawn Shop, said she and her staff also check community Facebook pages to see stolen items and watch out for them coming into the store.
“Very rarely do we get the stuff that comes in stolen. First of all, because we try to be really diligent about who we deal with and then also because we have to put in serial numbers.”
“We really don’t want to be involved with stolen stuff. It’s a hassle. When we do put money out for them (stolen items) the RCMP comes and seizes it and I lose my money. The stigma from years ago was that people brought in stolen stuff and we fenced it, but people don’t do that, we want to have a legit business,” she added.
Hypothetically, if things are being stolen in Prince George and taken to another city and that city has a similar bylaw, the items could be located there. But not every municipality has the same mandate to use the Rapid system.
For example, Campbell River on Vancouver Island, where four pawnshop employees were arrested recently after an undercover investigation involving stolen property, does not have that bylaw.
Corporal Craig Douglass said the stolen items are going to a wide variety of places.
“They’re being sold on the black market somehow, be it an online app or a webpage, or they’re just brought to pawn shops and serial numbers weren’t provided to the police by victims, or thieves may keep the item. But mostly, they are selling it to support some kind of addiction that they have.”
His advice is to record serial numbers or identifying features of things you own that would be attractive to a thief.