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SUNNY Temp: 63 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Sunday, June 8, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend May 22, 2003 Greg Spear of Southern Oregon Pawn places a gun in the store�s display case. Medford police hope to tighten the controls on pawned property in hopes of better tracking stolen goods. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Police want ’Net link to pawn shops By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune Police plan to palm off the price of a new computer system that would help them investigate thefts. Medford police officials are looking to install an Internet system in the city’s pawn shops that would track stolen items and flag suspects in property crimes. The system would come at no cost to the police department or local pawn shops, police said. Instead, those who pawn would pick up the tab by paying a fee of about 50 cents for every transaction. While most pawnbrokers say they don’t want anything to do with stolen property, they oppose the proposal. "If I was having a big problem with stolen items, I would say ‘Yeah, let’s go for it,’ " said Peter Schulzke of Southern Oregon Pawn in Medford. "A smart thief knows that everything’s going to the police department." Advertisement To comply with state law and city ordinances, pawn shops already send police documentation of their new inventory each week in addition to the names of those who pawned items and their driver’s license numbers. Detectives regularly phone pawn shops with tips on stolen items and suspects. But police say there’s too much lag time between a pawn transaction and when the shop’s report comes in. With the new system, pawn shops’ inventory would be available in "real time" over the Internet, which police would check against their stolen property reports. Police also would be able to send alerts on stolen property and wanted persons over the system. Instant reporting would help investigators make quicker arrests in property crime cases and recover stolen items, officials said. Police have been considering a system operated by the Canadian company Business Watch International, but are open to other vendors, said Medford police Lt. Mike Moran. "We think that the electronic pawn reporting is a solution to people dealing in stolen goods," said Randy Schoen, Medford deputy police chief. When thieves do business with pawn shops, those owners become victims when a stolen item they have bought is seized by police. If a suspect is convicted, pawnbrokers hope for restitution that doesn’t always materialize. However, most pawn shops report a minute loss of revenue connected to stolen property and take various precautions, such as turning away car stereos, which are often stolen, pawnbrokers said. If forced to pay a fee for an Internet reporting system, pawnbrokers could be passing along between $12,000 and $25,000 in costs to their customers every year, said Matt Stormberg, president of the Oregon Pawnbrokers Association. His three shops conduct between 1,000 and 2,000 transactions each month, he said. Stormberg suggests Medford pawnbrokers work with the police department to develop their own system that wouldn’t be controlled by an outside company. "It’s a great idea, and there’s a lot of things we can work on to make this electronic sharing of information happen," he said. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Property crimes rise, but fall below 1997 Most types of property crime in Medford have increased in the last couple of years, but they still fall below the rate of six years ago. Medford Police Department last year took reports on 509 burglaries, up from 426 and 418 in 2001 and 2000 respectively, according to police department statistics. Theft in Medford increased from just under 3,000 cases in 2001 to more than 3,600 last year. Stolen vehicles topped 200 last year compared to 169 in 2001. However, approximately the same number of vehicles were reported stolen last year as in 2000. Overall, property crime in Jackson County has decreased from about 14,690 cases in 1997 to about 12,000 in 2001. Across the state, 26,549 burglaries; 15,240 stolen vehicles and approximately 123,600 cases of theft were reported to police departments in 2001. New Oregon crime statistics will be published in July. Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times