The City of Fredericton is looking at updating its bylaw dealing with pawnshops in an effort to keep pace with the new ways criminals are getting rid of stolen goods.

Fredericton Police Chief Barry MacKnight says criminals are using online sites to sell stolen goods more frequently. (CBC)

Pawnshops have been used in the past, but Fredericton Police Chief Barry MacKnight says times have changed and so must the bylaw.

"The bad guys are using online services to sell stolen property more and more frequently,” he said.

The police chief said any bylaw will be ineffective if it does not adjust to the changing patterns of criminals..

“That's changing the entire landscape. So the bylaw is a bit of an anachronism now if it only focuses on pawnshops,” said MacKnight.

“I expect some would say if you're going to regulate the repurchase and sale of used goods, then you should do that consistently and across the board. And how do you do that with online services will be the question. It will be the question I'm asking, because I don't know the answer.”

Coun. Marilyn Kerton said she agrees the rules may need to be updated.

“We've all heard through the media about something being found and sold on Kijiji and some of those kinds of sites, right?" she said.

“Is there any way that we can monitor or have any kind of control on those kinds of sites?”

MacKnight says a new bylaw should also take into account companies that set up in hotels for a couple of days to buy used goods, such as jewelry — some of which could be stolen.

He will be working with the city’s legal department on the issue.

Pawnshop owner hopes to be included in talks

Sean Haley, a Fredericton pawnshop owner, said he hopes to be included in discussions surrounding a new bylaw. (CBC)

Sean Haley, owner of the RePurchase Store, hopes he and other pawnshop owners will also be included in the discussion.

He said he's anxious to give ideas to make his industry more reputable, he said.

Under the current bylaw, pawnshop employees have to follow strict guidelines to make sure the items they buy aren’t stolen.

Among them is asking clients for identification before any money is exchanged.

“If they don't want to give ID, which very seldom happens, then you're pretty sure it's not theirs, so you just turn it away,” said Haley.

The rules were even stricter when they were introduced about 10 years ago, he said.

“I was required to, on a daily basis, to send in a complete list of my clients from the day before to the police station with a driver's licence, how much I lent them, along with product information," he said.

Haley felt the rules violated his customers’ privacy rights. He took the city to provincial court and a judge struck down those sections of the bylaw.