The Monroe County Legislature is considering a proposal that sponsors say would strengthen and modernize county laws regulating pawnshops, secondhand dealers, and jewelry and coin exchanges.
Almost every county legislator has signed on as a sponsor of the legislation, virtually assuring that it will pass.
During a news conference Tuesday, County Executive Adam Bello said proposed amendments to the county’s existing laws would target unscrupulous shop owners, who buy new-in-the-box goods from people who have shoplifted them from retail stores.
“We've seen unfortunate instances of pawnshop owners preying on those who are struggling from addiction,” Bello said. “Our police and law enforcement officers are dealing with this reality nearly every day, a cycle of theft and pawning to support addiction. This has to end.”
If passed, the legislation would place limits on how many similar new-in-the-box items a person can sell to a dealer in a year. It also would give the sheriff the authority to fine or suspend the licenses of dealers who run afoul of the law and expand it to cover dealers who sell through internet commerce sites.
Undersheriff Korey Brown said the dealers buying the stolen items are helping fuel the local opioid crisis. Of the people who have overdosed in Monroe County, roughly two-thirds are known to sell things to pawnshops, he added.
“If we can find a way to interject in their lives by not letting them just keep repeating this cycle of stealing, getting cash and getting more drugs, we’re helping them,” Brown said.
The county’s pawnshop and secondhand dealer laws apply only to communities without regulations of their own. Bello noted Tuesday that the city of Rochester already has laws on the books similar to the county’s, as well as the proposed amendments.
