City pushes online-tracking law for pawnshops

The one remaining family owned pawnshop in Brownsville has been in operation on Madison Street for approximately 30 years, one of 15 in the city that buys and sells everything from boots to guns to treasured keepsakes.

But not all of them do business the same way. Some of them register their transactions online; others, like the Brownsville Pawn Shop owned by the Cisneros family, does not.

"I am the last of the small independents," Joe Cisneros said. "I am a mouse compared to an elephant."

Now, the police department wants to require all pawnshops to file their transactions online.

"It's a very proactive measure," police spokesman Sgt. Jimmy Manrrique said. "We're trying to battle crimes."

Because some of the items pawned have been stolen or burglarized from area homes or businesses, police say, having a fast electronic registry of the items, with serial numbers and other information available, would speed up the investigation of such crimes.

The identity of the persons pawning or buying goods also would be registered.

The City Commission moved this week, taking the first of two votes to require pawnbrokers to register their merchandise electronically.

The proposal could become effective following the second vote Oct. 7.

"It's just updating the pawnshop ordinance," City Assistant Attorney John Chosey said. "It's a heck of a lot easier for the police department."

Every week, officers visit the Madison Street pawnshop, as well as the five corporately owned Amigo Pawn & Jewelry shops that do not register electronically, to review pawn tickets and ensure that merchandise has not been reported stolen.

The E-Z Pawn, Cash America and First Cash pawnshops already register their transactions online.

"It makes our jobs a lot easier," Manrrique said.

If police have a suspect, he said, they can run that name and date of birth through the pawnshop database to check for goods that might match.

Manrrique said the five Amigo pawnshops alone generate as many as 1,000 transactions each week.

Amigo representatives declined to comment for this story.

Cisneros says the change translates to "headache" for his smaller operation.

He says no stolen merchandise has been pawned at his downtown business for more than 15 years, at least.

"They come every week," he said of the police. "I know my customers."

The site of the database is at www.leadsonline.com. Manrrique said there is no cost to enroll in the program, but the site requires special access.

But for Cisneros, the cost of equipping his business electronically would cost more than $1,000.

"I have no more than a couple of hundred tickets per month and it would not be cost effective," he said.

eperez-trevino@brownsvilleherald.com