Albuquerque police recently confiscated thousands of dollars in stolen property after they conducted a week-long pawn shop operation in which detectives inspected every pawn shop in the city.
Albuquerque police recently confiscated thousands of dollars in stolen property after they conducted a week-long pawn shop operation in which detectives inspected every pawn shop in the city.
As a result of the operation, one pawn shop was temporarily closed due to building code violations and a new alliance was formed between pawn shop owners and the police department. The pawn shops assisted APD in identifying the stolen property.
“This operation is the start of a new collaboration between the city and pawn shop owners,” Mayor Richard J. Berry said. “Pawn shops want to make an honest profit in our city and we are going to do everything we can to help them do just that.”
In the week long operation, 12 officers and the Safe City Strike conducted inspections to make sure all of the pawn shops were in compliance with city ordinances that govern the sale and resale of property. During the operation APD randomly inspected pawn tickets and recovered the following property that had recently been stolen:
- 16 new DeWalt power drills
- 2 handguns
- 1 tile saw
- 7 LCD televisions
- 1 Sony Play Station
- 1 Nikon digital camera valued at $4,000
- 2 Milwaukee saws
- 1 Mikita power drill and hammer
APD detectives also learned that many of the pawn shops were not educated about all of the laws and ordinances which govern their operations. Several pawn shops were purchasing property at 80 percent less than the fair market value, which is a violation of state law. In one sale, APD found a DeWalt drill valued at $600 was purchased by a pawn shop for $80. During the operation, detectives discovered that thieves are stealing brand new tools from retailers and then are reselling them to pawn shops. In most cases the property is resold to pawn shops before it is even discovered stolen by the retailers.
Valley Pawn, 2600 block of Fourth NW, was closed for three days after the Safe City Strike Force found several electrical and mechanical violations. The business also didn’t have a certificate of occupancy, which is required under building code. The business was allowed to reopen after it developed a plan to address all of the violations.
After the operation was conducted, several pawn shop owners formed an association similar to the retail association that was formed with APD four years ago. Pawn shop owners will be meeting with police every other month and together they are in the process of forming a new web site in which they will exchange information on people who they believe are trying to sell stolen property.
“Pawn shop owners who are competing for business have already started emailing each other to report suspicious activity,” Police Chief Ray Schultz said. “This new partnership will help us to continue to reduce property crime in the city. Thieves need to know that pawn shops are working with us to help identify these types of crimes.”
In January, Mayor Berry unveiled a 15-point plan to curb property crime in Albuquerque. One of his initiatives was to develop a system in which pawn shops can easily work with police to identify stolen property. Since the plan was unveiled, property crime in Albuquerque has dropped 19 percent.
