Pawn shop owner assures checks are done for stolen items

After thieves ran off with over $4000 worth of her jewelry, Sandra Whittaker said she wants local pawn shops to be mindful when people come to trade in items. Last year, four people tried to sell stolen items to Cashwiz Pawn Shop, three of them were arrested. General Manager Kerwin Boxill said those numbers are low thanks to the strict regiment in place as required by law.

“If it’s stolen don’t bring it here, we don’t want any part of anything that is stolen, if they bring something here that is stolen they will be caught,” said Mr. Boxill.

Under the Secondhand Dealer’s Law, pawn shops are required to put procedures to ensure stolen items don’t cross their counters and they work closely with the RCIPS to ensure it doesn’t happen.

“We have a really good relationship with the RCIPS, everything that comes in here we take pictures of, we send documents every single day so they know exactly what comes in if something is stolen they have a file list that they can check. We also ask for ID, for fingerprints, we take pictures of the people, so all these things can be deterrents,” said Mr. Boxill.

Police Head of Criminal Investigations, Peter Lansdown released a statement on the issue, saying, “We have a good working relationship with the secondhand dealers. Detectives and community police officers conduct inquiries with them on a regular basis. We provide them with lists of reported stolen property and they provide us with photographs of property that they seize so that we can make further inquiries.”