COUNCIL LOOKS TO STENGETHEN RULES FOR PAWNBROKERS

The Cape Girardeau City Council Wednesday will consider a city law that would impose more stringent identification requirements for people who sell merchandise to pawnshops and jewelry stores.

But some local merchants said the law is unnecessary and would intimidate honest customers.

The city council, which normally meets on the first and third Monday each month, is meeting Wednesday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day today. Wednesday's council study session will begin at 5 p.m., and the regular voting session will start at 7:30 p.m.

The "pawnbroker ordinance" was initiated by the Cape Girardeau Police Department to strengthen its "ability to conduct criminal investigations, recover stolen property, and identify and arrest those dealing in stolen property," according to a council letter from Police Chief Howard Boyd.

The ordinance would be amended to require licensed pawnbrokers and any merchant who deals in used precious metals and gem stones to:

Require customers to present a photograph identification card.

Maintain a register of the information from the identification card.

Record a thumb print of the individual pawning merchandise.

"The police department asks that the register being maintained by the pawnbroker or dealer in used precious metals be presented for inspection upon demand by law enforcement officers," Boyd wrote.

But Jay Crosnoe, one of several merchants in Cape Girardeau who deal with used jewelry, said the law is unnecessary and would hurt his business. He owns Crosnoe Gold and Silver at 862 N. Kingshighway.

"It would just about stop our business as far as gold buying goes," Crosnoe said. "The customers will be embarrassed and feel like they're getting harassed or accused of something illegal."

Crosnoe said better cooperation between the police department and merchants would accomplish the same goals as the misguided law.

"We're not crooks," he said. "We try to work with the police if there's something suspicious.

"But the three years I've had the store open, the police have only shown their face in the door twice."

Frank Mabry of Plaza Pawn, 2100 William, said the law would be an "encroachment on the customers' privacy." He said he also doesn't relish the thought of additional paperwork and government regulation.

"You legislate this and that. It's time consuming. It's more paperwork. And people are a little embarrassed," Mabry said. "They'll just take their business up the road to some other pawnshop."

Crosnoe and Mabry both said many people have a misguided notion that a lot of stolen goods are bought and sold at pawnshops.

"We screen people pretty well anyway," said Crosnoe. "It's mostly people just selling their own merchandise. If it's anything of value, we document it and get their license number anyway."

Crosnoe said it's in the pawnbrokers' and jewelry store owners' interest to protect themselves from accepting stolen property.

"We basically get identification from customers just to clear us in case there is a problem," he said. "If something turns out to be stolen and the police confiscate it, we're out the money we paid for it."

Crosnoe also said that if a criminal brings stolen merchandise into a store, most merchants would want the customer to leave, not "hang around to fill out a bunch of forms.

"I'm not a big hero trying to keep someone like that in the store," he said. "We want them out of the store."

But Lt. John Brown of the Cape Girardeau Police Department wrote in a memorandum to Boyd that the proposed amendment to the city's "pawnbroker ordinance" would help the department trace stolen property and identify who stole them.

Brown said the "nature" of the pawnbroking business attracts stolen merchandise.

"Even the most honest and sincere pawnbroker can not help but innocently receive stolen merchandise once in a while, and under the worst conditions, pawnshops can be used as a retail funnel to market these items to the public," he wrote.

Brown said the police department "routinely" recovers stolen items from local pawnshops. He said the present city law only requires pawnbrokers to record the merchandise and only the name of the person selling or pawning it. No proof of identification is required.

"Obviously, perpetrators selling stolen items provide false names," he wrote.

Brown said Sikeston requires that pawnbrokers record customers' identification, physical description, driver's license number, signature and thumb print. Memphis, Tenn. requires a thumb print and photograph.

"I've discussed the ordinance with both agencies and both have faults," he said.

Brown said Sikeston police complained that their ordinance doesn't apply to merchants who deal in used jewelry and precious metals.

Mabry said that, if passed by the council, the new ordinance should apply to jewelry stores.

"If you put your finger in the dike for one group, why would you let it wide open for the jewelry stores," he said. "If we have to do it, then you better believe that the jewelry stores have to do it."

In other business Wednesday, the council will consider authorization for the next section of Lexington Avenue, from Caroline Lane to Perryville Road.