Police say a moratorium on new pawn shops in Springfield is helping control crime in western Massachusetts.
Springfield Police Commissioner John Barbieri is recommending the city council extend the ban on new pawn shop licenses which is set to expire at the end of June. Barbieri said the 42 pawn shops and junk dealers currently licensed in the city is a manageable number for police to keep tabs on.
" If you have an item stolen, you want the police department to have a fair shot to make the rounds of all the second hand , junk dealers, and pawn shops to make every effort to try to recover your property," said Barbieri.
In a report to the city council’s Public Safety Committee, Springfield police detailed more than a dozen cases where jewelry, electronics, and other property stolen from residences throughout western Massachusetts were recovered from pawn shops.
In addition to the moratorium on new stores, the city in 2014 put tougher record keeping requirements on pawn shops.
