5.48.100 Merchant Recordkeeping.
A. The police chief shall design a purchase report form and make copies available to all second-hand merchants. Subject to the exceptions in MMC 5.48.110, these forms, or any other substantially similar form approved by the police chief, shall be utilized to record purchases of regulated property by second-hand merchants. The form may request any information reasonably calculated to help the police chief identify the seller or the regulated property purchased.
B. Subject to the exceptions in MMC 5.48.110, whenever a second-hand merchant purchases regulated property for business purposes:
1. The merchant shall completely and accurately fill out a purchase report form at the time of the sale/purchase. The purchase report form shall be filled out in legible English. The purchase report form shall be submitted as provided in MMC 5.48.120.
2. For each sale/purchase, the seller shall sign a declaration of proof of ownership form, confirming that s/he is the owner of the property and has the right to sell the property or that s/he has the consent of the owner of the property to sell the property. This declaration form may be submitted with the purchase report form under the provisions of MMC 5.48.120 or the merchant may hold the form as provided in MMC 5.48.130.
3. The merchant shall obtain and make a copy of acceptable identification from the seller along with the seller’s current residence address. This copy will be submitted on the purchase report form under the provisions of MMC 5.48.120.
4. The merchant shall either:
a. Photograph the seller of the regulated property. The photograph shall show the face and shoulders of the seller. The seller shall not be photographed wearing any head-covering, dark glasses or similar object that obscures the seller’s facial features. Untinted eyeglasses may be worn by the seller when being photographed, or
b. Place the print (identifiable) of the seller’s right thumb (left if right unavailable) in the designated area of the purchase report form. Thumbprints may be produced using a digital format with prior approval of the process from the police chief.
c. If the merchant is unable to obtain either a photograph or a thumbprint, the merchant shall note the reason on the purchase report form.
d. The photograph or thumbprint will be submitted on the purchase report form under the provisions of MMC 5.48.120.
C. The second-hand merchant will photograph all jewelry he or she purchases. When more than one piece of jewelry is purchased at a time from a single seller, the merchant will photograph all the pieces as a group. Except as specified in this section, these photographs will be submitted along with the purchase report form under the provisions of MMC 5.48.120. A merchant may request approval from the Police Chief to submit photographs of jewelry directly to the police department rather than submitting the photographs with the purchase report form. The merchant is responsible for identifying the photographs clearly so they can be related to the appropriate purchase report form.
D. Every article of regulated property purchased by a second-hand merchant and required to be recorded on a purchase report form shall be assigned a unique number, letter, symbol or other identification mark. This unique mark shall appear both on the purchase report form and, while the article is in the possession of the second-hand merchant, on the article itself. (Ord. 4950 §3, 2012).