HomeMy WebLinkAboutJPZ - 06/15/2010 - Pawn Shops Minutes of the Elk Grove Village J.P.Z. Meeting, June 15, 2010
Call To Order
At 3:15 pm the meeting was called to order by Trustee Samuel Lissner. Present at the meeting
were: Trustee Jeffrey Franke, Trustee Chris Prochno, Finance Director Christine Tromp, Village
Attorney George Knickerbocker, Deputy Chief of Police Michael Kirkpatrick, Police Sergeant
Michael Gaspari, Police Detective Sheara Garrison, and Don Sokolowski.
New Business
Detective Garrison was asked to summarize her proposal for an ordinance that would require
pawn shop owners to photograph property that comes under their control. She explained that she
learned through an Addison, IL pawn shop owner that he voluntarily photographs items that he
receives. He believes it benefits law enforcement when they come in or call to inquire about a
specific piece of property. Detective Garrison did some research through the Illinois Department
of Financial and Professional Regulation and learned that pawn shops are only required to retain
items, such as gold jewelry, for 48 hours before they may melt them down. This provides a
challenge to law enforcement when they try to investigate the possibility of recovering stolen
property that has been sold to a pawn shop. When a crime has been committed where property
has been stolen and pawned the Investigations Section may not receive the police report or a
complete list of stolen items until after the 48 hours expires. If the pawn shop only provides a
general description and no photograph of an item, law enforcement would be unable to identify
conclusively if the item matches the description of stolen property. Detective Garrison also
included in her report a copy of a similar ordinance that exists in Oak Park, IL.
The trustees inquired about a time frame that pawn shops would be required to retain
photographs or provide them to law enforcement upon request if this ordinance was adopted.
Time frames from three (3) years (the statute of limitations for many felony cases)to indefinitely
were discussed. Also involved in the discussion was if pawn shops should retain printed copies
of the images or retain them in a digital form.
In closing, Trustee Franke inquired if this proposal would be of benefit to law enforcement. The
three police officers replied that this ordinance will improve the ability to solve crimes for the
Elk Grove Village Police Department and for surrounding law enforcement in general.
Adjournment
At 3:35 pm on June 15, 2010 the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Michael Gaspari