The Madison Common Council passed a new ordinance Tuesday that requires pawn shops and other secondhand stores to report sales directly to police in an effort to combat crime.
Going into effect Feb. 1, the ordinance requires businesses involved in selling items back to the store to notify police of all transactions.
While businesses are currently required by law to report transactions, according to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, the present system is ineffective.
"The reality is that it is a very antiquated system done on paper," Verveer said. "We've really had no enforcement."
According to Madison Police Department Captain Jim Wheeler, detectives are unable to effectively monitor suspicious pawnshop transactions due to outdated procedures, but the new system simplifies tracking trends between secondhand store transactions and crime.
"This gives our property detectives a tool to get this information and hopefully put a dent into some of the crimes that are being committed," Wheeler said.
Wheeler said this automated system creates a more streamlined approach assisting the police department in looking for trends in stolen goods.
This ordinance aims to keep criminals from bringing in stolen goods for cash.
"We're making it harder for criminals to be rewarded for their crime," Verveer said.
Verveer said this ordinance particularly affects students because they are highly vulnerable to burglaries.
"For students and non-students alike, it will help lessen the possibility that they become crime victims, and if they are, that the perpetrators be brought to justice and stolen property be recovered and returned to victims," Verveer said.
-Abby Becker
