It may soon be harder for Long Beach residents to turn their jewelry into quick cash, if 6th District Councilmember Dee Andrews’ proposal to treat them more like pawn shops is approved at tonight’s council meeting.
Following last summer’s spike in property theft, Andrews and his team researched what could be contributing to the increase and discovered a multitude of loopholes around “cash for gold” businesses that allow them to exist largely unregulated.
“We were truly confused at first,” said John Edmond, Andrews’ Chief of Staff, of how all of the contraband was being liquidated. “We were then at a jewelry store and saw, for lack of a better term, a man who seemed to be on hard times. Out of nowhere, he pulls out several sterling silver spoons. And with no questions–same questions you would ask if you were buying someone’s car, like, ‘Do you have a title?’–no basic questions whatsoever. Just handed him cash.”
For Andrews and his office, it suddenly made sense as to why personal-property theft was so pervasive, including multiple reports of people literally having their necklaces snatched while walking in broad daylight. The spike had even led LBPD to tell citizens to not wear their jewelry or “be flashy,” a stance that Andrews felt was ultimately disheartening and wrong.
{loadposition latestnews}These anonymous, no-questions-asked transactions are part of a loophole discovered that separate C4G operations from the legal requirements of other property-buying businesses such as pawn shops. Pawn shops are required to hold onto jewelry for 30 days, which gives police time to properly investigate and recover stolen goods.
When Andrews’s office approached Erik Sund, Business Relations Manager & City Purchasing Agent for Long Beach, for a list of these businesses to begin to discuss ameliorating the situation, Sund informed them that the City didn’t even have one.
According to Edmond, C4G operations can popup practically anywhere, including inside liquor stores, payday-loan businesses, and even in mobile structures, where they set up shop on a corner, hang a ton of banners and generate a multitude of transactions in a short amount of time.
“In order to curb these issues, we feel there needs to be a little more standards in place, ask for a little more,” Edmonds said of Andrews’ agenda item. “There needs to be more due diligence on behalf of the seller–much like pawn shops–that is common in the industry and therefore hopefully curb the criminal element. That is, making it more difficult for thieves to access cash so anonymously.”
Andrews wants C4G operations to be institutionalized like a pawn shop model where sellers have to be identified and of proper age, provide fingerprints and jewelry/goods have to be put on a hold in order to provide police ample time for investigation and possible recovery.
The agenda item will appear at tonight’s council meeting.