Bartlett gold dealers now under regulation
The Bartlett village board approved an ordinance Tuesday that places regulations on jewelry and gold dealers in the village.
All precious-metal dealers and pawnbrokers — including dealers of secondhand articles who purchase “precious-metal scrap” — must now keep careful records of their transactions and customers.
Bartlett police Chief Kent Williams reiterated Tuesday what he said at a committee meeting in May about the reasoning behind the change.
The current “no questions asked” model, he said, means local businesses that deal with jewelry are creating “an environment where they offer an opportunity for people to commit crimes in order to make that easy money.” Williams hopes the change will curtail “desperate people in desperate times” who are bringing stolen jewelry to dealers and walking away with money.
Records the dealers will now be required to keep include a digital photograph of each piece of jewelry or precious metal they buy; an accurate description of the items purchased or received; and the name, address, driver’s license number and description of the person selling the item.
The information will need to be either entered into a computerized record-keeping system approved by police or handwritten or typed in a way that it would be obvious if an entry was removed.
Records will be delivered to police each day a transaction occurs, and the dealer will be required to keep all items on hand for five business days after they are purchased, in case they are deemed evidence in a crime.
Village administrator Valerie Salmons said police worked hard with all the “small business people” the ordinance affects to make sure the changes wouldn’t hurt them.
“I do know that there were a number of conversations and a number of concessions on this and I was particularly pleased with the police department’s effort to make sure we were able to do this in a collaborative way,” she said.