(A) The City Council finds that use of services provided by pawnbrokers provides an opportunity for the commission of crimes and their concealment because pawn businesses have the ability to receive and transfer property stolen by others easily and quickly. The City Council also finds that consumer protection regulation is warranted in transactions involving pawnbrokers. The City Council further finds that the pawn industry has outgrown the city's current ability to effectively or efficiently identify criminal activity related to pawn shops. The purpose of this chapter is to prevent pawn businesses from being used as facilities for the commission of crimes and to assure that the businesses comply with basic consumer protection standards, thereby protecting the public health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens of the city.
(B) To help the Washington County Sheriff's Department better regulate current and future pawn businesses, decrease and stabilize costs associated with the regulation of the pawn industry, and increase identification of criminal activities in the pawn industry through the timely collection and sharing of pawn transaction information, this chapter also implements and establishes the required use of the automated pawn system (APS).
(Prior Code, § 1802.010) (Ord. 7504, passed 11-16-2004)