irishone
Join Date: March 2008
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RE: Pawnshop database video
Some intel on pawn shops, and how they should be a source of solving crimes.
Friday, August 30, 1996
City's pawn policing system brokenPiles of paperwork keep Atlanta police from spotting stolen property
Atlanta Business Chronicle - by Brendan Murray Staff Writer
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"BURGALRIES AND PAWN SHOPS"
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After five computers vanished recently from The Lovett School in Buckhead, school officials handed over the serial numbers to the Atlanta Police Department, hoping the authorities might seize the $6,000 in equipment at a local pawnshop.
Fat chance.
Using antiquated procedures and horse-and-buggy technology, city police are six weeks behind in the task of entering pawnshop reports into a database that helps identify items reported stolen.
Only 31,160 pawned goods -- or one-quarter of everything pawned in Atlanta during the first six months this year -- were entered into the city's database and cross-checked with burglary reports in the first half of 1996, according to Atlanta police. That left more than 90,000 items revolving in the city's 76 pawnshops virtually unchecked.
Pawnbrokers are required by state law and local ordinances to send police daily reports listing the used merchandise they buy or trade. On Aug. 23, data-entry workers in the city's pawn investigations unit had just started recording a 1-foot-high binder stuffed with July reports.
"We just don't have enough people to keep the system current," said Detective L.T. Norris, Atlanta's pawnshop investigator. "Some of the items could be long gone before we even have time to put them into our computers."
And unlike some 80 law enforcement agencies in Georgia, the Atlanta police department is not linked to a pawn database -- the state's biggest -- compiled within the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's (GBI) mainframe computer, a statewide dragnet to filter stolen goods.
As a result, cracks in the current system could allow burglars to launder stolen goods through local pawnshops before police have time to detect them. Though many pawnbrokers cast a suspicious eye at customers hocking large quantities of computers and car stereos, the regulations governing the city's pawnshops are only partially enforced.
`Overworked and underpaid'
On a typical day in Atlanta, pawn customers offer up valuables as collateral in exchange for cash loans. Pawnbrokers profit mainly from charging hefty interest rates -- sometimes 25 percent for one- to three-month periods -- on loans in exchange for the collateral. Many times the collateral is a television, a computer, jewelry or a firearm.
When an item is pawned, the pawnbroker fingerprints the customer and describes the item in a pawn report. The one-page report could sit in a pile at police headquarters for several weeks before being entered into computers. CLEARING CASES FASTER.
www.leadsonline.com
BURGLARY
“The victims of a burglary reported a large amount of items taken from the residence.
Value of all items missing was $23,789.00. Our detective unit used the 30-day
free trial of LEADS Online to locate some of the items reported as
missing/stolen.
The total amount of property recovered using LEADS Online totaled
$8,464.00. LEADS Online also led the detectives to the suspects. The
detectives were able to get enough information and evidence to present the case to the
Prosecutor’s office for charges of burglary.”
Det. Jeff Harman
Clay County (Missouri) Sheriff’s Office
CLEARING CASES FASTER.
www.leadsonline.com
WHY NOT CREATE AN IN-HOUSE AGENCY PAWN SYSTEM?
5 REASONS FROM THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
1) Leadsonline is a much faster system. Our in-house system is backlogged
anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months.
2) Leadsonline is an electronic system. Our in-house system has numerous
stores that do not transfer data electronically. We have to pick up the pawn slips
and have them entered into our system by hand.
3) Leadsonline is nationwide. Our in-house system can only search systems in
Austin. The bad guys know this and will take stolen property to different cities to
pawn.
4) Leadsonline is potentially more accurate. Leadsonline data only has to be
entered once electronically. Using our in-house system, the data may have to be
hand entered more than once. This can create errors.
5) Leadsonline has additional helpful info. Leadsonline has more data
concerning phone numbers and addresses of the businesses right on the search
page.
Det. John Hardage 1102
S/E Investigations
Austin (Texas) Police Dept.
CLEARING CASES FASTER.
www.leadsonline.com
EXPERIENCE SPEAKS
“l.e.a.d.s.online is a vast improvement over what we were doing before…we’re
recovering stolen property and it just keeps getting better…Your tech support team is top
notch.”
Det. Rick Whaley
Hamilton County (Tennessee) Sheriff’s Office
CLEARING CASES FASTER.
www.leadsonline.com
MULTIPLE THEFTS – ACROSS THREE JURISDICTIONS
“I was assigned a Stealing Over $500 investigation involving an employee from a
carpet cleaning company. While cleaning victims’ carpets, the employee stole
three very expensive rings. During the course of my investigation, I entered the
employee’s name into l.e.a.d.s.online in an attempt to locate him. The employee is
an immigrant from Iraq, and due to his unusual name, I entered just the first name into the
l.e.a.d.s.online system, which came up with a match. He sold four pieces of jewelry
to a pawn shop in St. Charles City (a neighboring county). The victim in my case
identified one of the rings as being hers. The ring recovered was valued at
$1800.00.
I spoke with the St. Charles City, Missouri Police Department about the offense.
Det. Gary Drury from St. Charles City advised me that he possibly had a case on the
employee. After speaking with me, he was also able to make a case on the employee.
Through further investigation, I found that the Crestwood, Missouri Police
Department also had an interest in the employee. After relaying information to Det.
Applebaum from Crestwood, he was able to make the case.
In total, the employee pawned 15 items of jewelry at area pawnshops. He is
currently pending trial in circuit court.
Without l.e.a.d.s.online, this case may have gone unsolved.”
Det. Michael Reynolds, #201
Ballwin (Missouri) Police Dept.
CLEARING CASES FASTER.
www.leadsonline.com
WANTED FELON / FIREARMS – CROSS JURISDICTIONAL
“In August 2004, I investigated a felon in possession of a firearm case.I had received
information that the suspect was currently living in Medford, Oregon and was in
possession of a stolen handgun taken out of burglary in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
I ran the suspect's name throughLEADS and got a hit.The suspect had
sold/pawned three digital cameras at a pawn shop in Tulsa prior to coming out to
Oregon. The cameras were taken out of the same burglary as the firearm.When I
questioned the suspect about pawning any of the stolen property he initially denied it. I
was able to show him the LEADS hit and he eventually admitted to his
involvement and the property was recovered by the victim.
This stolen property would have never been located using our old "hand
search" method.LEADS not only allowed us to check local busineses, but other
locations outside of our jurisdiction.”
Det. Justin Ivens
Medford (Oregon) Police Dept.
CLEARING CASES FASTER.
www.leadsonline.com
NCIC – MULTIPLE BURGLARIES
“I would like to inform Leads Online of success stories from the Little Rock Police
Department.
The first occurred on September 23, 2004, when I was contacted by one
of my Burglary victims. Mr. Smith requested I look up a person he thought might be
involved in his burglary.I took the name and ran it in your system, but did not receive any
information on this subject.
I decided to check the articles and guns in the NCIC area of
l.e.a.d.s.online.I do this on a weekly basis to check weapons. Mr. Smith had also
talked to me about the weapons taken in the burglary of his home.I started going
down the list and noticed two weapons that matched the description of the
ones taken in Mr. Smith's burglary.Mr. Smith did not have his serial numbers recorded,
but stated he could identify the weapons. After calling Mr. Smith I inquired about
a television he had reported and it also matched what this person had
pawned.
After making an appointment to meet Mr. Smith at the pawn shop, I continued to search
the NCIC report.To cut a long story short, I located two other hits on the same page.I
was able to solve three burglaries assigned to me within a 15-minute
span and recover over $5,000.00 in property.
On November 3, 2004, I located a stolen weapon from Grant County,
Arkansas. After checking the name of the person who pawned the
weapon using l.e.a.d.s.online, I also located where he had pawned an
additional three weapons.The weapons have been secured through the Police Hold
section of l.e.a.d.s.online and warrants will be filed on this subject.
I want to send my gratitude to l.e.a.d.s.online for this website.This site is one of the
greatest tools a Police Officer could dream of.I would recommend
l.e.a.d.s.online to all agencies in Law Enforcement.”
Det. R. Tribble
Burglary Squad
Little Rock (Arkansas) Police Dept.
CLEARING CASES FASTER.
www.leadsonline.com
THEFT – POWER TOOLS
“Det. Neal was assigned to investigate the theft of two power drills valued at
$2250.00 each, that were stolen from a business here in the City of Berkeley. Det.
Neal successfully usedL.E.A.D.S Online and located the two drills at two
area pawn shops.
L.E.A.D.S. Online not only provided Det. Neal with the name of the pawn shops where
the drills were pawned, it also provided him with the date and time the drills
were pawned as well as the name, address and telephone number of the
subject who pawned them.
The drills were recovered and reunited with the owner and a subject was
arrested and charged with the theft. Warrants were issued and bond set at
$5000.00.
L.E.A.D.S. Online has been a very valuable tool for this department, as well as others.
Thank you for this very important investigative system.”
Lt. Art Jackson
Berkeley (Missouri) Police Dept.
CLEARING CASES FASTER.
www.leadsonline.com
MULTIPLE ROBBERIES - BUSINESS
“Our agency was investigating a robbery of a local pawn shop. Surrounding cities were
also working robberies of pawn shops believed to be done by the same people, about
25 robberies in all. While talking to another pawn shop, the manager told me about
l.e.a.d.s.online. I contacted l.e.a.d.s.online and was setup for a free month.
During my investigation, I received a name of a suspect. I put his name in and was
shocked to see all the transactions. I, along with the loss prevention employee,
went to the pawn shops listed and recovered nearly $6000.00 in stolen jewelry.
This enabled me to obtain a warrant on the suspect. It also helped other
jurisdictions. He was later picked up on a warrant. I believe this would not have been
possible without l.e.a.d.s.online.
Our city council did not hesitate to purchase your service. Thanks again, and I
look forward to l.e.a.d.s.online helping me with all my cases!!!!”
Det. Sergeant Rodriguez
Midfield (Alabama) Police Dept.
CLEARING CASES FASTER.
www.leadsonline.com
THEFT
“In July 2003, I received a case file where an elderly lady hired a caretaker to help her
around her apartment because of an illness she had.Items started coming up missing,
including a one-of-a-kind custom made diamond ring given to her by her deceased
husband.The suspect of course denied she ever stole anything from the
lady.
I ran her name and her daughter's name through L.E.A.D.S.Online and
discovered numerous pawns at 2 pawn shop locations by both the suspect
and her daughter. I found the stolen ring at one of the pawn shops, and the manager
not only had the signed pawn ticket by the suspect, he was able to identify the suspect as
the person who pawned the ring.
The suspect had been stealing from her elderly clients and pawning the stolen jewelry. I
reported her to the state licensing department and had her license revoked.The suspect
was also charged with a Felony for stealing.The victim was so happy to be able
to get her late husband's keepsake back.”
Det. Ron Gondran
Blue Springs (Missouri) Police Dept.
CLEARING CASES FASTER.
www.leadsonline.com
MULTIPLE BURGLARIES - BUSINESS
“I had several burglaries of Brake Check stores in June 2004. The suspects stole
numerous tools. There were no suspects or leads. No new burglaries of Brake Checks
occurred until October 2004.
We developed a name of a suspect and ran pawn searches [on l.e.a.d.s.online]. Not
only did we find the tools stolen in October and November but also the ones
stolen in the June burglaries as well. All were dutifully recorded in the Leadsonline
database. We can more than likely clear 11 Burglaries, 2 auto thefts and one
burglary of a vehicle all thanks to Leadsonline.”
Det. John Hardage
Austin (Texas) Police Dept.
CLEARING CASES FASTER.
www.leadsonline.com
ROBBERY & BURGLARY SUSPECTS – NO PLACE TO HIDE
“Just to let you know, I have been using the l.e.a.d.s.online web search system on
the free trialfor afew days now. So far, I have found tworobbery and
burglary suspects located in Montgomery, AL - which is located 140 miles from
Jacksonville, AL. We knew that the suspects had moved from the Jacksonville area but did
not know where. It appears that the two suspects have been pawning jewelry, which is
suspected of being stolen.
We notified Montgomery PDof the two suspects and advised of their history. We
wereadvised by Montgomery PD that the two were also suspects in a number of crimes it
that area as well. We were able to advise Montgomery of information we
had on the two suspects that will connect them to other crimes.
We would not have been able to obtain this information without
l.e.a.d.s.online. Thank you.”
Inv. Mike Denton
Jacksonville (Alabama) Police Dept.
CLEARING CASES FASTER.
www.leadsonline.com
BURGLARY – CROSS JURISDICTIONAL
“I just wanted to pass along another success story. We had a report of items stolen from a
residence with a good known suspect. We found out the suspect had left the area,
so we decided to run his name through LeadsOnline and we were able to
locate stolen items he sold in Nashville, Tennessee.
When the suspect returned to our jurisdiction we confronted him with the knowledge and
solved the case. This was a felony in Missouri and charges are pending.
Without LeadsOnline, I don't believe we would have ever known for sure
where these items were sold. Thanks again for providing this valuable service to
Law Enforcement for a reasonable cost!”
Lt. Bob Welliver
Boonville (Missouri) Police Dept.
CLEARING CASES FASTER.
www.leadsonline.com
REAL NUMBERS – REAL IMPACT
“Since January of this year we have recovered approximately $8,000 in property as a
direct result of Leads Online. This has resulted in 17 criminal charges being filed with our
District Attorney's office and has solved/closed 10 felony cases.
This is a very helpful tool for Law Enforcement.”
Rick Jamison
Chief of Police
Converse (Texas) Police Dept.
CLEARING CASES FASTER.
www.leadsonline.com
MULTIPLE BURGLARIES – JEWELRY
“Recently I had a case where an elderly woman was burglarized multiple times. She
even had her lock changed because she thought it was someone who may have had a key. It
ended up being another woman who had befriended the victim.
This woman [suspect] knew of the elderly lady through her daughter. She worked her way into the
house by saying that she wanted to meet the woman who was so close to her daughter. The
elderly lady let her in because the eventual thief was so nice, charming, and
pleasant. Apparently during these encounters the woman would ask to use the
bathroom, but instead would go to the bedroom and steal the victim’s jewelry.
This occurred several different times.
Prior to our discovering who the suspect was, the woman asked to borrow $40 dollars from the
victim. The following day the [suspect] returned the borrowed $40 dollars and offered to do some
small cleaning for the victim. After the [suspect] left, the victim went to return the borrowed $40
dollars to a hidden location in her home, and realized $160 cash was missing. The [suspect]
was the only person other than the victim’s daughter who knew where the
money was kept. The beat officer interviewed the [suspect] about the missing money, however
she denied any involvement.
Now having a new possible suspect name to look at, I searched l.e.a.d.s.online’s
database and received a hit on the woman’s name. She had pawned jewelry on
several different dates all at one pawnshop. The dates of the pawns were
checked against the dates of the previously reported burglaries. The dates all
matched the same time period. A police hold was placed on the items and photos taken. The
photos were shown to the victim, who, upon seeing her missing rings, began to cry. She stated she
thought she would never see the rings again, which included her wedding rings and a 50th
anniversary ring her husband gave her.
During this investigation, a second burglary victim was also discovered. She
likewise had jewelry stolen. This victim lived in the same area and never suspected the woman who
lived across from her was responsible for burglarizing her home.
Thank you, l.e.a.d.s.online – without your service I may never had solved these burglaries, let alone
had enough evidence against the suspected woman to lock her into a solid case. When the
suspect was interviewed, she denied any knowledge of the victim’s property
being stolen. After showing her the pictures of the jewelry now positively identified by the victims
along with the l.e.a.d.s.online printout of her activity concerning the pawns, she
confessed to the burglaries, thus giving a written statement. With l.e.a.d.s.online’s database
it was easy to link everything to the suspect, recover the property and clear the offenses.
Just from these two cases I recovered several thousands of dollars of jewelry.
I would also like to thank the Pawnshop involved, as they were very professional and helpful in this
investigation as well as their help in returning the victims property.”
Det. Ron Keilholz
St. Louis County (Missouri) Police Dept.
CLEARING CASES FASTER.
www.leadsonline.com
BURGLARY
“I have nothing but good things to say regarding the Leads Online program. It allows
investigators to get the jump on locating property from victims who have
been violated, in every sense of the word.
Most recently, I was investigating a burglary of a residence where jewelry, laptop
computers, and various other electronic equipment was stolen.The backdoor was kicked
open and the house was ransacked throughout.The victim was devastated
because his Rolex watch had been listed as a piece of property that was
stolen.The watch was expensive, but also had sentimental value
attached.The serial number of the watch was made available, and I ran it through
Leads Online.Within a few seconds I located the watch which had been
pawned in an adjacent city. The watch was recovered and returned to the owner,
who was enthusiastically happy that he was able to have his watch back.
As a result, I was able to convict the suspect who committed the burglary
above. This case would not have been solved if it wasn’t for the Leads
Online program.
Leads Online is a valuable tool for police investigators to use in the recovery of stolen
property and the identification of suspects.”
Det. Jimmy Boatman, #130
Criminal Investigations Division
Cedar Hill (Texas) Police Dept.
CLEARING CASES FASTER.
www.leadsonline.com
BURGLARY - HABITATION
“In the early morning hours, Cedar Park Police Department stopped two white males
named Daniel and Eric.Daniel and Eric were stopped while carrying several
large black bags containing numerous items, which would lead a good officer to
believe that a burglary of a habitation occurred.
During the stop, CPPD found Daniel was in possession of a meth pipe, and he was
arrested.Well, Eric was set free with out any of the property, so CPPD thought. CPPD
requested my department check by a residence.Our Deputy found that the residence had
been burglarized. We did not find any physical evidence connecting Daniel or Eric to the
residence, other than the recovered property.
I interviewed Daniel in jail, and got nowhere.Daniel’s story was that he bumped
into Eric and he was carrying all the property. Eric’s story was that he bumped into Daniel
and he was carrying all the property.Then the story changed to ‘they found the property’.
Well to make a long story short, I conducted a check on Eric through Leads Online, and
found that he had pawned a collector’s Elvis Zippo lighter, which belonged to the
victim.Leads Online showed that Eric pawned the lighter on the same day
they where stopped by CPPD.
I confronted Eric with the Leads Online information and he then provided
me a written statement, which landed burglary charges on both Daniel
and Eric. Eric stated that he had hid the lighter in his sock, while he was being searched
by CPPD.
This is just one story of how Leads Online has changed the course of my
investigation, from possession of stolen property to burglary of a
habitation.I have used Leads Online to successfully locate missing
persons, track wanted suspects, and in one incident I was able to catch a
complainant/victim in an insurance fraud scam.
I recommend Leads Online to any Department or Pawnshop establishment.”
Det. Donald Foiles
Criminal Investigation Division – Westside Property Crimes
Williamson County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office
Shelby County Sheriff's OfficeNEWS RELEASES
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Deputies Bust Pawn Shop in Stolen Property Sting
Release Date: November 19, 2007
Shelby County Sheriff’s Deputies, working jointly with investigators with the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office, have arrested two people for operating a stolen property enterprise from a Hickory Hill pawn shop. Deputies say the arrests signify one of the largest property seizures ever from a pawn shop in Shelby County.
“I commend our detectives for their outstanding work. This investigation is an excellent example of how law enforcement, working in partnership with area retailers, can help curb the growing problem of property theft,” said Shelby County Sheriff Mark H. Luttrell, Jr.
Deputies in the ALERT Squad (Area Law Enforcement Retailers Team) received a tip that employees of “Big Daddy’s Pawn Shop” at 3700 Hickory Hill would buy stolen property.
Last Thursday, undercover Deputies with the ALERT Squad, went to the store and posed as thieves. Target, one of the lead businesses in the ALERT Squad partnership, donated a plasma television, iPods and other electronic goods for the sting. Deputies say Kristi Vice, 39 and Trae Benton, 33, offered to buy the items for $970.
Kristi Vice
Trae Benton
After the arrest, Deputies began what turned out to be a three-day inventory of more than 6,000 items at the store including computer equipment, power tools and lawn mowers. Almost 3,000 items, including 500 pieces of jewelry, were not documented. Serial numbers were missing or altered from hundreds of other items, which filled up two tractor trailers.
“Prosecutors in our White Collar Crime Unit have been working with Sheriff’s detectives all weekend and have approved certain charges, as well as the seizure of bank accounts. The arrests made, and seizure of property, are the first steps in an on-going investigation. Items taken from retail stores and home, business and vehicle burglaries fuel much of the crime we have in our community. We will do what we can to hold accountable those responsible for such crimes,” said Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons.
Investigators also discovered more than $71,000 worth of DVDs. The DVDs, which were defective, had been ordered destroyed by Disney and other companies. Instead, the movies had been sold to the pawn shop.
Deputies say the owners of “Big Daddy’s Pawn Shop” operate other pawn shops in Shreveport, Houma and Bossier City, Louisiana and in Jackson, Mississippi. Sheriff’s detectives will be contacting law enforcement agencies in those cities about the seizure.
Kristi Vice, an owner of “Big Daddy’s,” has been charged with Theft of Property $1000-$10,000, Possession of Items with Alerted/Missing Identification Plates and for the Commission of a Prohibited Pawnbroker Act.
Trae Benton, a “Big Daddy’s” employee, has been charged with Theft of Property $1,000-$10,000 and Commission of a Prohibited Pawnbroker Act.
Sheriff’s Deputies and prosecutors with the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office say both Benton and Vice face hundreds of charges.
For further information, contact:
Steve Shular
Public Information Officer
Shelby County Sheriff's Office
201 Poplar Ave - Suite 902
Memphis, TN 38103
Phone: 901-545-5532
FAX (901) 545-3310
Email: shulars@shelby-sheriff.org
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