MANCHESTER — City police defended a controversial city ordinance that requires pawn shops and dealers in second-hand goods to report goods they buy for resale and hold on to them for 30 days in case the person selling them is trying to use the shop to “fence” stolen goods.

Pawnbrokers, coin dealers and other sellers of second-hand merchandise say the ordinance's requirement that a fee be paid and each item entered into a database is burdensome. They also say that it forces them to tie up their cash in inventory that has to be held for 30 days before it can be sold.

Assistant Police Chief Gary Simmons told the Administration Committee of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen that it has helped reduced crime on city streets.

Simmons said the ordinance, which took effect in early summer and was implemented in August, has helped police catch burglars and thieves.

“I am very enthused about this program. It's one of the best tools we've enacted in many years,” Simmons said. “We've had at least 25 documented cases of burglary that we've been able to solve, and we've recovered property.”

Simmons was called before the committee by its chairman, Alderman Phil Greazzo, who criticized the new system for making it more difficult for businesses to stay in business.

Greazzo noted that the old system, in which information was handwritten by the merchant and then entered in a computer by a police clerk required only a seven-day waiting period.

“Now, they have electronic data they can see instantly and they have to hold it four times as long,” Greazzo said. “It doesn't make any sense to me.”

But second-hand dealers told the committee the ordinance is indeed hurting business.

A dealer in coins noted that he can't pay market rate when he buys precious metals because he has to guard against a loss in value by the time the 30-day waiting period passes and he is able to sell an item he bought.

But Simmons responded that sometimes it takes a while for someone to notice that a small item has been taken in a burglary. He said the ability to track items with other police departments through an Internet database helps solves crimes and gets criminals, many of them drug dealers, off the streets.

Simmons said police have tried to work with merchants so that, in some cases, items can be released early.

billsmith@unionleader.com