What a terrible feeling! It is very difficult for someone to understand this if they haven’t been robbed. We here at Aces Quick Cash understand, because we’ve been there and have felt violated just like you. You wonder what you could have done differently to prevent it. You wonder why someone would take your things. Why did this have to happen to me?

What should I do now?

Get your incident reported to your local police. Do this first and IMMEDIATELY! You can call the police and either do this via mail or with an officer in person. In Portland you can also do it online at: http://www.portlandonline.com/police/cor/

Have all pertinent information ready to give the police. This includes but is not limited to the brand, model number, serial number, photos, or any “owner applied numbers” (drivers license number, social security number, name etc.) you have recorded for the items lost. The serial number is important so that if a similar item comes in to a store, determination of ownership can easily be made.

For many years ALL pawnshops in Portland have been required by law to report over 99% of all items that come through the door to the Portland Police on a daily basis. The less than 1% of items not reported are used DVDs, VHS, CD'S, and video games. Everything else is reported. We are required to provide the Portland Police with all information regarding the person bringing in the items as well as the items themselves. We are required to photograph and thumbprint all persons selling items or getting loans. This alone keeps many stolen items from even coming through the door. In the City of Portland, all items purchased by pawnshops have to be held for 30 days for the police to have time to check them against reported stolen items. Pawned items are typically held for 60 days.

Some people will tell you to “call the pawn shops, because everyone knows that all stolen items go to pawn shops”. This is an urban legend, PERIOD. Now don’t get me wrong, some items from time to time come into our store that turn out to have been stolen. This is absolutely the exception and not the rule. All pawnshops work closely with their local police departments to help reconnect people with their stolen items and catch the bad guys.

The following data is from the State of Oregon. You can see the full reports by going to:

http://www.dfcs.oregon.gov/activity_reports/pawnbrokers.html

Since 1998, which is the oldest report available on this web site, the “police pick up rate” which is defined as [number of police pick ups / the number of loans made] i.e. stolen items, has not been over 0.105%. This is just slightly more the 1/10 of 1 percent of all the loans that all the pawn shops in the entire State of Oregon make in the entire year of the specified report. This has fluctuated slightly since 1998 but has never exceeded 0.105% according to the State of Oregon.

Now with that being said, where does this stuff go? There are numerous outlets for stolen items. Here are but a few in no particular order:

1. Craigslist
2. Auctions
3. Flea Markets
4. EBay
5. Bars
6. Across the border
7. Items are kept by the thief
8. Tools sold at local job sites
9. Local gold and precious metal buyers at hotels and shows

None of the above outlets are regulated by the State of Oregon, the City of Portland, or any other municipality regarding the buying, selling, trading, or loaning of merchandise. ALL pawnshops are HIGHLY regulated. Pawnshops in the City of Portland are more tightly regulated than most others in the State of Oregon.

So what does all this mean for me?
Does getting robbed suck? Yes.
Is my stolen stuff at the local pawnshop? More than likely, no.
Should I call all the local pawnshops and give them all the info about my stolen stuff expecting them to call me if it comes in, no.
Will I ever get my stuff back? This is not something I can answer.

In the city of Portland, the police department focuses a lot of attention on the pawnbrokers. With the State of Oregon reporting that only about 1/10 of 1% of all loans involve stolen property, this leaves 99.9% of the stuff going to unregulated outlets. Not a very promising picture.