By Angela Brown

CSOs to start checking pawn shops for stolen goods

Jul 17, 2018 | 12:00 PM

North Battleford’s Community Safety Officers (CSOs) will soon be taking on another duty – monitoring pawn shops to watch for stolen goods.

CSO supervisor Ross MacAngus discussed the new added responsibility when he gave his report to council at Monday’s meeting.

He said the Battlefords RCMP will set up training for the CSO team with Business Watch International, which is based in Regina. The CSOs will also receive training from the province.

MacAngus said it’s a “very positive move” on the RCMP’s part to bring the CSOs on to do this work. Up until now the RCMP have been handling these duties.

As part of their work, the CSOs will take a list of reported stolen goods from the RCMP, and establish contact with the pawn shops to ensure that none of the pawned items are on the list.

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Mayor Ryan Bater supports the idea.

“This is a request from the RCMP. It is part of the community policing strategy for the CSOs,” Bater said following council. “Really what it entails is that when goods are stolen in the community there is a data-base kept on those goods.”

He said the objective for the CSOs will be to check with the pawn shops in the community to ensure that stolen goods aren’t available for sale in the pawn shops. 

“We’re deterring people from selling stolen goods at pawn shops,” the mayor said. “It stands to reason that people may want to liquidate that property quickly, and the pawn shop may be a way to do that. So with the co-operation of the pawn shop owners and the RCMP, the CSOs can play a vital role there.”

RCMP Insp. John Sutherland said the RCMP requested the CSOs look after this duty to free up more time for the RCMP officers, to focus on more serious investigations of crimes in progress.

“For them to assist the RCMP, conducting the pawn-shop checks and making sure they are adhering to the appropriate legislation it’s certainly something they are capable of and willing to do for us,” Sutherland said. “There are specific guidelines under the city bylaw that have to be met by pawn shops.”

In addition to monitoring pawn shops, the CSOs general duties include enforcing the Traffic Safety Act, following up on not-in-progress crimes of vandalism and theft under $5,000, as well as responding to certain reportable, non-injury vehicle collisions in North Battleford, among their tasks.

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW