The city council finds that the use of services provided by pawnbrokers and precious metal dealers potentially provides an opportunity for the commission of crimes and their concealment because such businesses have the ability to receive and transfer stolen property easily and quickly. The city council also finds that consumer protection regulation is warranted in transactions involving pawnbrokers and precious metal dealers. The purpose of this chapter is to prevent pawn and precious metal businesses from being used as facilities for the commission of crimes and to assure that such businesses comply with basic consumer protection standards, thereby protecting the public health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens of the city.
To help the police 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). (Ord. 716, sec. 1, 7-1-2002)