A. A copy of every purchase report form filled out, including every photograph or thumbprint of a seller taken as required by this ordinance, every photograph of jewelry taken as required by this ordinance, and every declaration of proof of ownership form completed as required by this ordinance shall be kept for at least three years from the date of purchase. If all documentation related to any given transaction is attached to or included on the purchase report form and that form is properly transmitted and received in the data base specified by the police chief, a merchant is not required to maintain paper copies of the purchase report forms or other documentation for purposes of this ordinance. The report form, the photograph or thumbprint of the seller, any photograph of jewelry, and any declaration of proof of ownership form shall be subject to inspection by the police chief pursuant to this ordinance.

B. Subject to different holding periods specified in this ordinance, all regulated property purchased by a second-hand merchant and required to be recorded on a purchase report form shall be held by the merchant for at least 25 days from the date of purchase. The merchant shall maintain the property in substantially the same form as when purchased and shall not alter, exchange, or commingle the property. During the holding period the regulated property shall be kept on the business premises during normal business hours and shall be subject to inspection by the police chief.

C. Regulated property not subject to a holding period specifically includes DVDs, Blue Ray disks, video game disks or cartridges, music CDs, non-power automotive, yard, garden, and other tools such as sockets, hammers, wrenches and the like that are not sold in a complete set and are devoid of any serial numbers or identifiable markings applied by the manufacturer or previous owner, gold bullion bars (0.995 fine or better), silver bullion bars (0.995 fine or better), and any regulated property that is purchased from a second hand merchant and subsequently returned to that same merchant, so long as the merchant can confirm the prior purchase through sales receipt or other method of recordkeeping.

D. The police chief may give written notice to a second-hand merchant holding regulated property that the police chief has reasonable grounds to believe it is more likely than not that a specific item of regulated property is associated with criminal conduct. The second-hand business holding the regulated property shall then continue to hold the property specified in the notice in the same manner and place as required under subsection B of this section until released by the police chief. The holding period for any item of regulated property shall not exceed 180 days from the date of purchase.

E. If unreasonable hardship will result from holding regulated property as required under this subsection, the second-hand merchant may request that the police chief shorten the length of the holding period. The request that the holding period be minimized shall be in writing and shall be delivered or mailed to police department records, clearly labeled as “Request for Hardship Exemption.” The request should identify the property to which the request relates, state the reason extreme hardship will result if the holding period is not shortened, and state any factors that the police chief should take into account when reviewing the request. The police chief may grant a request to shorten the length of the holding period if the second-hand merchant establishes clear and convincing grounds to believe that undue hardship will occur if the request is not granted. If the police chief decides relief from the holding period is appropriate, the police chief shall provide the second-hand merchant who requested relief with written authorization to sell, transfer, or otherwise dispose of the regulated property. The authorization shall be effective only upon delivery of the written authorization to the second-hand merchant. (Ord. 4950 §3, 2012).