Two entities concerned about crime in Olds and area are expected to look into the possibility of requiring pawnshops to do more to help police track possible stolen goods.
Judy Schlichenmayer is secretary-treasurer of the Olds Community Policing Advisory Society (OCPAS) and the Olds and District Rural Crime Watch Association (ODRCWA).
She says during a recent OCPAS meeting, participants were told that a provincial law requires pawnshops to keep records of who is selling allegedly stolen property and to record suspicious items or people.
It was suggested the town or Mountain View County might be interested in creating bylaws calling on pawnshops to do the same thing at the town or county level.
“If we want a local one from the town and/or county, a letter to councils will be required,” OCPAS minutes say.
Schlichenmayer says the idea is expected to come before the ODRCWA as well. Its next meeting is Jan. 27 in the county council chambers.
She's not sure what will happen. She plans to discuss the idea with Olds RCMP Cpl. Shawn Morgan to learn more about it. But she does see potential in such a law.
“If the pawnshop owner thinks it could be stolen -- it's got somebody else's ID written on it or something -- they're supposed to be under obligation to contact the RCMP, contact the police. But that doesn't happen, right? It just gets swept in and then, people go into the store and find their stolen property there,” Schlichenmayer says.
“When you're local like this, I think you'd have a bigger advantage if there was some kind of law,” she adds. “I guess it's a tool for the RCMP then to charge the pawnshop owner.”
"If the pawnshop owner thinks it could be stolen -- it's got somebody else's ID written on it or something -- they're supposed to be under obligation to contact the RCMP, contact the police. But that doesn't happen, right? It just gets swept in and then, people go into the store and find their stolen property there." JUDY SCHLICHENMAYERSECRETARY-TREASUREROLDS COMMUNITY POLICING ADVISORY SOCIETY
