Proposed new rules for pawn shop owners in Cobb County would require a digital fingerprint and photograph of every customer be uploaded to an online database searchable by police nationwide.
The county already requires pawn shops to record a written description of any item and customer and take an ink fingerprint with every transaction. But some pawn shops are concerned the new rules, which are expected to be voted on this month, raise privacy issues and will end up costing customers money.
“It’s like being booked in jail, even if you’re not doing anything wrong,” said Marietta attorney John Moore, who represents Cash America, a national chain of pawn shops with a location in South Cobb.
Police say the electronic database is a crime-fighting tool because it allows police to search pawn shop transactions across several jurisdictions, not just within the county. Currently, most of Cobb’s 18 pawn shops and 77 precious metals dealers file pawn tickets with customer and item information, which detectives must go in person to review, said Cobb police Chief John R. Houser.
Cobb plans to contract with a company to provide training and install cameras and electronic fingerprint equipment to shops across the county, Houser said. The cost of the equipment and service is paid by the customer through a 20 cent transaction fee.
Moore said he is concerned about the cost to businesses and that fees could increase in the coming years.
Houser said the department’s research hasn’t found these reporting practices hurt business and any privacy concerns should be outweighed by the public safety benefit of the electronic service.
“We know now when you go into a convenient store, a bank, they are required to have working cameras,” Houser said. “We’re not forcing anyone to pawn anything. The whole purpose of this is to impede the sale of stolen property and reduce property crimes.”
Requiring the electronic information would put Cobb in line with other jurisdictions. According to LeadsOnline, one of the companies Cobb is considering for the service, almost 100 Georgia law enforcement agencies and more than 2,600 nationwide contract with the company.
Gwinnett County requires pawn shop owners to upload similar information into an online database and has done so for several years, said a spokesman for Gwinnett police.
Edward Ruddell III, manager of Canton Road Pawn in northeast Cobb, said the pawn shop industry is evolving and he doesn’t see the regulations as a big deal.
“What it’s actually doing is giving us a greater deal of credibility as an industry,” he said. “Banks are going under and now we’re doing loans to people in Brooks Brothers suits. We’re doing business loans. Any compliance increase makes for an easier relationship between us and police.”
The proposed ordinance also specifically requires customers show a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport. The old rules stipulated only a driver’s license or “similar identification card.”
The Cobb Board of Commissioners has to approve the changes before they become final. Public hearings are scheduled on July 9 and July 23, with a vote expected July 23.
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