Duluth, MN – (Northland’s NewsCenter) – Duluth Police are rolling out a new way to combat a significant increase in burglaries across the city.
They say they want changes made to the way jewelers and antique dealers – like pawn shops – deal with the precious metals they buy.
A meeting was held tonight at City Hall where the changes were discussed that would help Police decrease the amount of burglaries that were up 27 percent over last year.
This new ordinance will affect any business in Duluth that buys or pawns precious metals.
Currently businesses that purchase precious metal items have to wait 14 days to sell or alter items.
If Duluth adopts the new proposed ordinance, businesses would be required to wait 31 days.
The changes would also require businesses to take a photograph of the seller and the item and upload it to police allowing them access to the information.
Right now, Businesses only photo copy the seller’s driver’s license.While some business owners are concerned the new ordinance would drive out business, Police say the changes will assist them in reducing crime and returning stolen items back to their rightful owners.
“Just based on the increase in calls we’ve had along with the more burglaries, the 27-percent increase in burglaries we’ve had in the last year, it saves our investigators time from going out and having to go to business to business to business and ask them if these pieces they’ve seen them or if they have purchased them,” says Sgt. Chad Nagorski of the Duluth Police Investigative Unit.
There are about nine other cities in Minnesota that have adopted a similar precious metal ordinance. Superior is also now looking at adopting one was well.
Sgt. Nagorski will take the concerns voiced tonight to the City Attorney’s office, which will then be taken to the City Council.The soonest the ordinance would go to council February 27Th.The ordinance has to be read twice by the city council, so it will go through two city council meetings before anything is implemented.
Written for the web by Danyel Piecek.DPiecek@Northlandsnewscenter.com
We at Pawn Duluth support the proposed ordinance with the exception of having to take photos of the person pawning or selling the item. People do not like have their picture taken and then submitted to the government for further scrutiny. The sole reason for taking photos is that the Duluth Police do not trust that business owners are capable of properly checking the sellers ID. This is completely ridiculous.