Second-hand goods shoppers told to leave thumbprints at stores in new police scheme
Daily Mail
08.04.2010
By Daily Mail Reporter
Customers are being asked to leave a thumbprint when trading in second-hand goods for cash in order to stop criminals making money out of stolen items.
A number of second-hand stores in Norwich have agreed to take part in the scheme, launched by local police.
A police spokeswoman said the prints would help detectives trace sellers if goods turned out to be stolen.
She said prints would be kept in shops, not on any central database - and police investigating other crimes would be able to examine them.
Inspector Lisa Hooper said the idea was to deter thieves from trying to sell stolen property in second-hand shops.
‘The scheme will deter criminals from even trying to sell property to the shops who have signed up to the scheme, it will not affect law-abiding customers so they need not (have) fear of their thumbprint being obtained,’ said Inspector Hooper.
‘It is purely to put a stop to the flow of stolen goods in the city and in the second-hand shops who are the ones who feel the financial cost if stolen items are recovered by police, even though they genuinely bought the items from the customer.
‘We hope that customers will support the scheme and voluntarily allow their thumbprint to be taken.’
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