“No rules govern jewelers’ gold buys” |
| No rules govern jewelers’ gold buys Posted: 17 Dec 2010 06:35 PM PST By Katie Wedell, Staff Writer 9:36 PM Friday, December 17, 2010 Differing regulations for precious metal buyers, coupled with the skyrocketing price of gold may be behind an increase in home burglaries where jewelry is targeted in several local communities. The Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Financial Institutions requires all pawnbrokers and precious metal dealers to have a license. But jewelry stores are allowed to purchase scrap gold and other precious metals without a license as long as the purchase of metals is less than 25 percent of their annual retail sales. Jewelry stores also are not required to check the identification of customers selling gold. "It creates a market for stolen items and thus perpetuates the cycle of crime," said John DePietro, deputy chief of police for Miami Twp. Dave Bertke, co-owner of Rich's Pawn Shop on Watervliet Avenue in Dayton, said they rarely get stolen items because criminals don't want to show a photo ID. He said a division of the Dayton Police Department handles all pawn reports in Montgomery County. If they determine that an item could be stolen, they can require the pawn shop to hold it for an additional 30 days. Jewelry stores don't have to hold items for any length of time. Jewelers remove precious stones and melt down the precious metal for resale. According to a crime statement by Oakwood police, "This practice also destroys evidence and makes recovery of the items and prosecution of suspects difficult." "We think it's very unfair," Bertke said, that jewelry stores don't have to follow the same stringent regulations. "They can destroy it right away before the price of gold changes," he said. DiPietro said his department has good relationships with many of the jewelry stores in the township and they voluntarily check ID and let detectives know when they get possibly stolen items. John Stafford of Miami Twp.-based Stafford Jewelers said his company has been purchasing pre-owned jewelry for more than 20 years and takes numerous steps to ensure they are not buying from criminals. "We don't pay in cash and we require an Ohio driver's license," he said. "It's just something that we as a family-owned business decided to do." In the meantime, the best thing consumers can do to protect their jewelry is to use common sense in securing their home against a break-in. "A lot of times it comes down to people using their locks," said patrol officer Michael Burke with the Kettering Police Department. "We take a lot of burglary reports where there was no forced entry." If you are traveling for the holidays, ask a neighbor to check on your house, including picking up mail and newspapers and shoveling walkways so the house looks lived in, DiPietro said. Many local police departments including Oakwood, Kettering and Miami Twp. offer vacation house checks. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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