State law dating to 1984 makes it a gross misdemeanor for pawnbrokers, secondhand dealers and others of their type to receive property from anybody who is under the influence of intoxicating booze or drugs.

Figuring out who’s stoned can be a no-brainer

But the prohibition extends equally to persons known to have been convicted of burglary, robbery, fraud, forgery, auto theft, identity theft, possession or receipt of stolen property and to those convicted of drug-related crimes within 10 years of the proposed exchange.

And there’s the rub – how is the pawnbroker, secondhand dealer supposed to know who is in the set that commits property crimes? There is no easy means to do it.

Can be quite a hassle.

Well, for years Auburn Police have kept a list carrying no-buy-from-this-guy names, and on Monday the City Council began sifting procedures that would allow pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers free access to and use of the list.

Modifications to the existing City ordinance may come up for a vote before the full council on Monday evening, Sept. 19.

Today six pawnbrokers operate inside city limits.

Mike Hirman, investigations commander for the Auburn Police Department, cited for the council a recent increase in property crimes and law enforcement’s desire to do something about that. Indeed, in a recent four-month period, Hirman said, detectives seized more than $218,000 worth of stolen property from pawn shops and returned it to Auburn residents and others outside of the city.

“We have to have innovate ways to investigate methods of detecting and stopping these crimes because criminals are finding different ways to commit these crimes,” Hirman said. “We have found that thieves steal significant amounts of property, and they pawn them at pawn shops, often to support drug habits, not necessarily for criminal profiteering.”

As proposed, the amended rules say every pawnbroker and secondhand dealer doing business in Auburn has to require the person with whom each transaction is done to produce a valid, government-issued, photo identification card, and to verify the accuracy of the name that person has provided.

The idea is that requiring pawnbrokers and others to use the list before they accept property from any such anyones will dampen the latter set’s ability to obtain money for stolen property, to the general welfare and benefit. Names are purged from the list after 10 years have passed from the infractions.

“The current president of the Washington State Pawnbrokers Association has told us that complying with the ordinance by checking the identification and checking the do-not-buy list is minimal. It takes 8 to 10 seconds to check those lists and does not unduly burden their efforts,” Hirman said.

State law allows cities to adopt rules tougher than those cities already have on their books.