City looking to better track stolen goods at pawn shops - Business First of Columbus:

Columbus City Council is looking to expand a program that helps police electronically track stolen goods at pawn shops and other businesses. Legislation may be introduced Monday night that will authorize spending $48,991 from the city’s law-enforcement drug seizure fund to expand a contract with Leads Online LLC, a Dallas company that’s contracted with the Department of Public Safety for its investigation software. The online tool has let police monitor stolen goods sent to scrap metal yards.

Columbus official since May have been working with the 11-store Lev’s Pawn Shop chain on a pilot program that uses the Leads Online tool to track items instead of the paperwork pawn shops and similar businesses are required by law to file on every transaction. Expanding the program, the city said, will open up the online reporting software to several other pawn shops and 14 Gamestop stores in Columbus. All those stores have agreed to participate...