Shops team up with police to fight crime (From The Northern Echo)

Shops team up with police to fight crime

10:46am Thursday 23rd February 2012 in Darlington By Lauren Pyrah, Deputy Business Editor

PAWN brokers and second hand jewellery shops in Darlington have teamed up with police to crack down on crime.

In what is believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, more than 30 businesses have signed up to Durham Police’s Stop scheme, pledging to help stop stolen goods from being sold through their stores.

As well as refusing to accept items without full identification and, where possible, proof of ownership, the shops have promised to decline any goods which have their serial numbers altered or removed.

Staff will be trained in detecting suspicious behaviour, and police will also circulate photos and descriptions of items which have gone missing during burglaries and thefts.

Police launched the scheme after distinctive items, stolen in a burglary, had been found at H and T Pawnbrokers, in Skinnergate, Darlington.

Staff, who fully cooperated with the police, had no idea the items were the proceeds of crime and identified the missing goods, helping police charge a man and a woman in connection with the incident.

Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Weir told The Northern Echo these businesses could be invaluable in fighting crime.

“H and T Pawnbrokers volunteered this invaluable information about the jewellery to our officers, who were making inquiries at all the second hand shops in town, putting themselves out of pocket to help us with our case.

“Second hand shops and pawnbrokers don’t want to take stolen goods - they want to operate within the law and it costs them money.

“By preventing criminals from selling on these goods, hopefully it will prevent burglaries and thefts from happening in the first place.

“We have seen a significant drop in dwelling burglaries over the past year - they are down about 30 per cent - and we want to keep it that way.

“By working with shops in the town, we hope we can crack down even further on this type of crime, which causes real misery to victims.”

Janice Dodds, manager at H and T Pawnbrokers, said they took stringent measures to ensure stolen goods were not taken.

“We have CCTV everywhere, we always ask for full identification, and we take photographs of everyone who sells to us.

“While the vast majority of people are genuine, some are not. We do not accept items which are stolen, and our staff will do everything we can to prevent being sold stolen items. We are delighted the police are running this scheme to crack down on this.”