Police blame pawn shops for rise in thefts

A police commander told a group of Bodden Town residents Tuesday night that the proliferation of pawn shops on Grand Cayman over the past several years has been responsible, at least in part, for a rise in burglaries and thefts since 2013.

“Stolen items, whether it’s from burglaries or thefts, are much easier to be sold at the pawn shops,” Chief Inspector Brad Ebanks told about 25 people at a public meeting in Bodden Town. “We suspect that this is the reason why the number of burglaries and thefts has skyrocketed over the past two years.” Representatives of local pawn shops were contacted for comment about Mr. Ebanks’s statements, but no response was received by press time Wednesday.

Although the most recent RCIPS crime reports, both territory-wide and in Bodden Town district specifically, have indicated burglaries dropping slightly so far this year, the number of thefts has shot up in 2014.

According to the police records, theft offenses increased by 80 percent during the first six months of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013, from 237 to 427.

The number of burglaries reported in the first half of 2014 fell when compared to the same period last year, but the overall number of break-ins remains stubbornly high.

There were 262 burglaries reported in the Cayman Islands between January and June of this year, compared to 281 during the same period last year, a 7 percent decrease. If burglaries keep occurring at the same rate, Cayman will have more than 500 break-ins reported by the end of December.

In Bodden Town district for the first half of this year, 30 break-ins were reported to police, compared to 69 over the same period last year.

Chief Inspector Ebanks said Bodden Towners should be aware that police in George Town district often handle as many burglary calls in two weeks as the Bodden Town station between January and June this year.

“Sometimes there are, for one night, 10 to 14 burglaries … a lot of burglaries and a lot of stabbings,” Mr. Ebanks said. “This happens at the nightclubs all over George Town right now. In Bodden Town, we have a fraction of that.”

Pawn shops

Police started reporting what they termed a “sizeable increase” in jewelry thefts in Cayman during the latter half of 2010, and those numbers have remained elevated.

Police Commissioner David Baines has said police started to notice jewelry being stolen far more often in break-ins, whereas before burglars had tended to leave it alone. Some of that jewelry was turning up in second-hand stores, he said.

It is a crime to knowingly handle stolen goods in the Cayman Islands. However, the police have sought additional legislation to require those shops to produce records to investigating officers upon demand and to create a seven-day waiting period for businesses before they can dispose of or melt down jewelry they buy from customers.

Legislation regulating pawn shops has never been brought before the Legislative Assembly.

Containers

Cayman Islands customs officers have shown recently that not all items taken in thefts or burglaries are showing up at local pawn shops.

Raids conducted in late July in the George Town “Swamp” area led to the seizure of two containers suspected of containing stolen goods. The seizures were part of a joint police-customs probe into the export of stolen goods.

“In the past several weeks, customs agents and police have been looking at several locations around the island used by individuals to load containers for export,” said Jeff Jackson, assistant collector of customs.

Mr. Jackson said law enforcement authorities are seeking “stolen goods from burglaries and thefts being shipped out of the country, going to various places, mainly Jamaica and Honduras.”