Police Scrutinizing Pinellas Pawn Shops for &quot;Suspicious Items&quot;

Law enforcement in the St. Petersburg / Clearwater area are stepping up their efforts to crack down on the sale of stolen property in Pinellas County pawn shops. Pawn shops or Pawn Brokers have historically been an ideal place for thieves and burglars to unload their stolen goods in exchange for quick cash. Business at local pawn shops has been good, given the prescription pill epidemic and the high unemployment rate.

Computer Assisted Matching

New tools and old instincts are helping the Police better investigate and solve these crimes. Law enforcement agencies are assigning more detectives to specialized "property" divisions that exclusively handle the often related crimes of burglary, dealing in stolen property, and providing false information to a pawnbroker.

These detectives are given the daunting task: of scrutinizing the vast inventories of pawnshops to identify stolen property. While that might seem like a near-impossible feat, new technological innovations are making it more manageable. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement now maintains a statewide database of pawnshop inventories and requires that employees of all pawn shop stores log each transaction with information identifying the object acquired and a description of it.

However, because the database does not require a minimum description length, the information that law enforcement often receives regarding a particular item can sometimes be of limited value. Essentially, the database will accept whatever level of descriptive detail that the pawnshop submits. Despite the shortcoming of the database, these technological advances are nevertheless assisting law enforcement in their investigation of pawn shop inventories and the recovery of stolen goods.

Old Fashioned Leg Work

Few tools are as effective as a police detective's unrelenting "legwork" and his close scrutiny of details. Consider the following techniques that can often link a pawn shop item to its true owner:

1. Detectives examine pawned items for any markings left by the original owner. Oftentimes jewelry and other sentimental possession will have names engraved or etched into them by the true owner. Sometimes even less expensive items such as books, sports equipment, and even clothing have been inscribed with a name or initials.

2. When scrutinizing electronic goods, detectives often locate the serial numbers assigned to the device, and cross-reference that number with a list of goods reported stolen. If there's a match, law enforcement moves quickly to seize the item and then locate the perpetrator who pawned it.

3. If a law enforcement officer finds a name or other identifying mark on the item, they compare the geographic locations of the named individual and the pawnshop itself. Say, for example, that a police officer examines the inventory of a pawnshop in St. Petersburg. There, they find several pieces of women's jewelry sold to the shop by the same male customer. The officer reviews the pawnshop's records closely and determines that the customer who brought all of the jewelry into the shop lives a great distance away in Apopka. The geographical distance between Apopka and St. Petersburg will "raise a flag" and make the officer ask himself "Why would this customer bring that jewelry all the way to St. Petersburg?" From there, an investigation is launched into the seller of the jewelry for a possible grand theft, retail theft or dealing in stolen property charge.

When an officer's investigation uncovers stolen property, the investigating agency records the information about the stolen goods into the FDLE database. The recovered item is then linked to a public version of the FDLE database, where citizens have the ability to enter their serial number into the database to find a match.

Efforts to distinguish legitimately pawned items from stolen goods can take a lot of police time and effort. Sometimes a law enforcement officer can get lucky, while in other cases, it can be like looking for a "needle in a haystack." However, extra manpower and technological advances are making the pawning of stolen items increasingly easier to detect and routinely prosecute.

Arrested for a Theft related offense in Pinellas County? We Can Help!

Arrested for a Theft Offense in Pinellas County? We Can Help!

We are experienced criminal defense lawyers who regularly handle theft, dealing in stolen property, and other related offenses arising out of the St. Pete /Clearwater area. Visit our website to learn about possible solutions to your theft related charge.