Chicago steps up enforcement of stolen cell phone ordinance

CHICAGO (AP) - Officials in Chicago say they've cracked down on businesses that aren't complying with an ordinance aimed at reducing the number of street robberies of cell phones by making them tougher to resell and therefore less valuable.

On Monday, police and officials with the city's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection said they'd visited 44 businesses last weekend. They found 14 had not complied with the ordinance that allows the city to impose hefty fines or even close businesses that don't take several required steps to determine if the phones people are offering them for sale are stolen.

Officials say that since the ordinance went into effect in October, they've investigated over 300 businesses that sell used cell phones and found that nearly half weren't complying with the ordinance.