Pawn shops, Patriot Act, and Homeland security..

I was reading an article with Rick Harrison from the tv show Pawn Stars a few days ago and he said something that took me by surprise-
"Most people don't realize how regulated the pawn industry is, especially where I'm at in Nevada," he says. "When I take something in pawn or I buy something, I just don't take [an] ID. I take their driver's license number, their height, their weight, their eye color, their build. I turn that into the local police department, and then I also turn it into Homeland Security. It's part of the Patriot Act, and that goes to a central database online across the United States that checks for stolen items."

In defense of this earlier in the interview about some earrings-
The very next day, Harrison found out the earrings were stolen. The victim got her earrings back and the criminal was prosecuted. Harrison, meanwhile, was out $40,000.

Still.. is it a good thing that if you go to pawn something, your name, eye color, build, and weight get sent into a Homeland Security database? He also said Nevada has strict regulations.. so I wonder how wide spread this is? Is this for "protection" or just another way to keep track of the people?

www.npr.org...

That is why a black market is best, plus no tax crap.
I am not saying do anything illegal and use a fence, but just keep what is yours for you.

i dont trust those guys from the pawn shop show, they look like thieves or like they have bad intentions when they negotiate, somethin like that

looked up Texas. Looks like its current.

(a) Reporting requirements. The information on the pawn ticket must be made available to the law enforcement agency electronically or through the production of a separate copy of the pawn ticket. (b) Suggested electronic reporting guidelines. These suggested guidelines are intended to give pawnshops considerable flexibility to fit individual needs while providing some guidance. Modifications to the guidelines may be made without the loss of protection from any liability defense. Electronic reporting is voluntary and should occur under mutually acceptable terms to the pawnbroker and the law enforcement agency. Information reported electronically should be transmitted by a method mutually acceptable to both the pawnshop and the law enforcement agency. The suggested guidelines are: (1) the transmission be made using a 3.5 inch reusable diskette, CD-ROM, flash drive, remote access to secure websites maintained by law enforcement, or remote access to secure bulletin boards or websites; (2) the information be provided in comma-delimited ASCII text with field titles as the first record of the transmission; (3) the information be sent in batches no smaller than the daily activity; (4) the information include all purchase and pawn transactions in a single transmission; and (5) the law enforcement agency not be given direct access to a pawnshop's computer system.

info.sos.state.tx.us...$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=7&pt=5&ch=85&rl=406

A) Proper identification. The pledgor must present a proper form of identification at the time of the pawn transaction. For purposes of this paragraph, any form of identification found in Texas Finance Code, §371.174(b) that is either current or has not been expired for more than one year will be considered acceptable. A pawnbroker is not required to take a photograph of any pledgor or seller for purposes of identification.

info.sos.state.tx.us...$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=7&pt=5&ch=85&rl=405

If links don't work use this one and look under subchapter D.

Having had a long history of pawn shops owned by members of my family I can tell you why all the information is taken when you pawn or sell an item.

A pawn shop is not only a place to buy unique and discounted items it is also a poor man's bank.

The pawn broker makes a copy of the customers drivers license or other government identification.

This information is kept on file for a certain length of time and then destroyed.

Each week the local police departments visit the pawn shops and are presented with a list of items that were pawned or bought from customers.
With the pawn broker, the officer will check the shops records against the weekly theft reports received by the authorities.

If there is an item on the theft list that matches an item on the pawn shops list then the officer is given the personal information of the person that pawned or sold the item.

The information is not sent to any government agency unless a gun is purchased.

This is for protection of the pawn shop owner and the person that had an item stolen and taken to a pawn shop.

Hopefully, the thief will be caught and convicted and serve time for theft.

This also keeps pawn shops as honest as is possible.

Seems logical to me.

Originally posted by HisMajesty
i dont trust those guys from the pawn shop show, they look like thieves or like they have bad intentions when they negotiate, somethin like that

Don't you believe what you see on television about pawn shops.

It is not reality.

I assure you I would trust a pawn shop owner more that I would a banker or stock broker.

I have accounts in more than one bank and I have a stock broker.
Those are the ones you need to watch closely.

This thread is extremely relevant to me.

I work in a pawn shop as a buyer (person who buys items from customers and grants them pawns).

We actually use the VERY SAME computer program that Pawn Stars uses. I hate it.

We used to run a DOS system that was super basic but got the job done. The boss got fed up with it for several reasons... one being that if our main computer crashed, we would loose all of our data for the day (big problem). So the boss opted for a POS (Point of Sale) that had external information storage...
...that POS is Compu Pawn.

It has its server in Florida. Every key stroke you make gets sent to the Florida data storage facility.

Compu Pawn is hooked up into the Patriot Act/Homeland Security's database. They are married so to speak.

At my pawn shop, we take the following for information if you are selling, trading or pawning:

-Full name
-ID number
-Date of Birth
-Phone number
-Address

Sometimes when you type in someone's name the system highlights them as a potential criminal.

I don't think I've had any 'terrorists' yet, just 'drug lords and mules'. Yeah right. None of those people were drug lords. Worst matching scheme ever.

So let me just say, thank Jebas I live in Canada and we don't have a pawn industry that's regulated like the US. The warnings that pop up don't have to be minded, for us.

I'll tell ya though... it's all set up for biometric data, thumb-scans and such. Scary system. I want my DOS Power Pawn back.

We have a lot of problems with thieves bringing in stolen goods, but the only advantage that Compu Pawn provides for busting crime is that we take webcam pictures of everyone who sells, pawns or trades. (Because we don't use biometric options)

We co-operate with pi...er, cops and we always have. That's one of the biggest crime stoppers... having a reputation for working with the cops. Compu Pawn is a scary system, it really is. It gives me the 1984 heebee jeebies.

If you guys have any questions, I'll do my best to answer.

reply to post by OrganicAnagram33


So what if you are typing a key and made a mistake- does that error get sent to the homeland security or does the correct version get sent?

I am guessing the system would alert you right away if a seller is known for selling fake/stolen goods? Would that automatically alert the police in the area or would you have to do that? (assuming you lived in the US, and also assuming it alerts you of a thief)

Are customers told that their data is being sent to a homeland security database before they pawn/sell?

Thanks for the reply

reply to post by ReadyPower

Originally posted by ReadyPower
reply to post by OrganicAnagram33

 

So what if you are typing a key and made a mistake- does that error get sent to the homeland security or does the correct version get sent?

You just press backspace or go back to edit the data if you had moved on. Everything goes to Florida and back.

I am guessing the system would alert you right away if a seller is known for selling fake/stolen goods? Would that automatically alert the police in the area or would you have to do that? (assuming you lived in the US, and also assuming it alerts you of a thief)

If we were based out of the US, that might happen, I'm not sure. The only thing I have seen come up on the security database is 'drug lord' or 'drug kingpin' with a their description and aliases. Once this comes up, there's a warning. If we knowingly do business with this criminal, we will be charged as well. In fact, it's our duty to report it immediately to Homeland Security. Of course, the match is NEVER correct in my experience and I'm in Canada anyway, so it doesn't matter.

Are customers told that their data is being sent to a homeland security database before they pawn/sell?

If we were in the US, I would feel compelled to tell them, even if we didn't have to. Since I'm in Canada, we pretty much just joke about it with the customers and tell them sometimes in casual conversation. I showed the last 'drug kingpin' what came up on my computer screen and we made fun of him... he was just a 20 year old local, not a Colombian blow-caine pusha!

Thanks for the reply

No problem dude.