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Joliet looks to lessen number of stolen goods at pawn shops, thrift stores
By Bob Okon
November 26, 2011
JOLIET – Police want pawn shops and other dealers in second-hand goods to get more information on their merchandise and customers.
The goal is to give police a tool to check for stolen goods.
Joliet police will meet with business owners Wednesday to explain the plan.
The requirements would apply not only to pawn shops — a business that has been getting a closer look by city officials in recent months — but also thrift stores and other dealers that take in used goods.
The store owners would be required to photograph the merchandise as it comes in and the person bringing it in. Photos and other information would then go to LeadsOnline, an Internet system for tracking stolen property.
"We would compare it with stolen items and information we receive from burglars," Police Chief Mike Trafton said.
Trafton said Joliet police currently have "no idea" how much stolen merchandise might be going through local stores. But when they were testing the system to see how it worked, they located a TV and other stolen goods from Joliet that had been sold to a store in Aurora.
The system will protect store owners "so they don't take in stolen goods," he said. "It will protect buyers, too."
Trafton said he's received mixed reaction from store owners since notifying those that would be required to comply with the proposed rules.
The proposal has been reviewed by the Joliet City Council Public Safety Committee and is expected to go to the full council for approval in December.
The Joliet City Council recently has denied several zoning requests sought by business people who wanted to open pawn shops and gold-buying stores.
Council members argued that too many pawn shops and gold buyers had been moving into the city.
However, Trafton said more police departments across Illinois and the United States are using the LeadsOnline system to track second-hand goods moving through local stores. He said the system is in place in 70 communities in Illinois and more than 1,900 across the country.