MANATEE -- In the days after he found his wife Kathleen bludgeoned to death in their Terra Ceia home, it was not foremost in Dr. James Briles’ mind to drive to local pawn shops to look for her jewelry and other items that were stolen.
Out of $40,000 in property taken, the Briles family ended up recovering one necklace.
After visiting hundreds of pawn shops after the initial shock of the murder, the Briles family discovered an industry, they say, has an antiquated paper system for recording transactions.
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The family believes that if Florida pawnbrokers had to take pictures of every item they take in and everyone who does business with them, it might get some criminals off the streets faster and it would be easier for victims to identify their possessions.
The family’s effort, known as Kathleen’s Cause, has led to a pair of bills in the Florida House and Senate that would amend Florida Statutes 538 and 539 to include digital photographs of items pledged or sold and of the pledger or seller.
Senate Bill 1662 and House Bill 1323 also would establish a statewide electronic database for keeping all the transaction information.
“We are not after the pawn industry,” the 58-year-old doctor said Monday. “We are after the bad guys. With this type of electronic system it will be easier to track bad guys.”
Delmer Smith, who is alleged to have killed Briles in August 2009 with an iron sewing machine and is now expected to stand trial for her murder next fall, was not charged with the crime until Feb. 10, 2010.
During those six months, Smith, who was jailed in Sarasota in October, 2009 for other crimes, used an accomplice to pawn at least one item belonging to Briles.
“He did use the pawn system and had other people use it for him,” Briles said of Smith. “If this bill passes, police can immediately see what is being pawned, where it is pawned and by whom.”
The bills have been filed and referred to committee, but have yet to be placed on the committee’s agenda, Briles said.
Briles is concerned the bills might not reach committee status.
“I am not sure why we are not be agended,” Briles said. “We are running out of time. If it isn’t calendared this week, they won’t hear it. We are making a plea to citizens who agree with what we are doing to contact their representatives and push for this.”
Clarence Baker, owner of Estate Jewelry & Pawn Inc. at 101 Fifth Ave. Drive E., says he agrees with Briles’ mission to get criminals off the streets but he doesn’t think heaping more work on pawnbrokers is the answer.
“We are so paper-worked now it’s unbelievable,” Baker said, pointing to a stack of reports, each 2-inches thick and each representing one month. “This is not the way. The right way is to end our turn-key criminal system and not let criminals out of jail once they are in.”
Baker believes the pawn industry is a scapegoat for a justice system not working.
“I had a guy crash into my store with a stolen car and do $30,000 worth of damage and he got probation,” Baker said. “How is that fair?’”
Baker believes pawnbrokers do enough. They are now required to write a description of each item they take in and email it to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office within 24 hours.
They must also get a thumb print, current address and phone number and a copy of a photo ID from all customers. The Sheriff’s Office has one employee who goes through these emails -- there are 12 pawn shops in the city of Bradenton alone -- and tries to link them to current crimes, said Manatee Sheriff Brad Steube.
Briles said the current system is out-dated.
“It’s an antiquated paper system,” Briles said. “They fax things in and deliver a thumb print. If this bill takes over, they will have a statewide electronic data base.”
“Who is going to download all these photos?” Baker asked. “We get people who lay out multiple items when they come in. How will we be able to do this? Who will provide the camera and extra computer space?”
The bill proposes that the extra expense will come from the pawnbroker industry, which is being asked to chip in $200 per shop annually to fund the initiative, Briles said.
Baker said he already feels squeezed.
“We already pay $300 a year for our license,” Baker said. “I don’t think it’s fair to pay $200 more.”
Unlike Baker, Steube supports Kathleen’s Cause wholeheartedly.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Steube said.
The words, “a 14-karat gold necklace” is common in one of the descriptions his office receives, but a picture of one is not, Steube said.
“If we have a digital photo and access to it, it’s easier to identify stolen property,” Steube said.
If a criminal takes a stolen item from Manatee to Charlotte County, as is often the case, the item can be seen online by Manatee detectives, which they can’t do now, Steube said.
“This data base would be statewide and we can look at it,” Steube said.
Steube, like Briles, has some concerns about the health of the bill.
“In the bill, each pawn shop will have to pay so much into the state and therein lies the problem,” Steube said. “The pawnshop industry is very large and powerful and I am sure they will fight this bill.”
Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 748-0411, ext. 6686.
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