[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township
of Washington 11-24-2009 by Ord. No. 33-2009; amended in its entirety
12-11-2013 by Ord. No. 35-2013. Subsequent amendments noted where
applicable.]
A.
The purpose and intent of this chapter is to assist law enforcement
officials and victims of crime in recovering stolen precious metals,
gems, gemstones and/or other articles by requiring minimum reporting,
maintenance and distribution criteria for secondhand and transient
dealers.
B.
No person shall use, exercise or carry on the business, trade or
occupation of buying scrap gold, old gold, silver, jewelry, home electronics/audio
and visual equipment, musical instruments, telephones and telephonic
equipment, scales, computers, computer hardware and software, typewriters,
word processors, scanners, sporting goods of all kinds, antiques,
platinum, all other precious metals, tools of all kinds, televisions,
DVRs, GPS, camcorders, car stereos, gift cards, furniture, clothing
or other valuable articles, hereinafter referred to as "secondhand
goods or articles," or being a secondhand dealer within the Township
of Washington without having first obtained a license from the Township
of Washington as hereinafter provided.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms, phrases,
words and their derivations shall have the meanings ascribed herein.
Words used in the present tense shall include the future, words in
the plural number shall include the singular number; and words in
the singular number shall include the plural number. The word "shall"
is always mandatory and not merely directory.
Acceptable forms of identification include: a current, valid
New Jersey driver's license or identification card, a current,
valid photo driver's license issued by another United States
state, a valid United States passport, or other verifiable United
States government-issued identification.
Any article of merchandise, including any portion of such
article, whether a distinct part thereof or not, including every part
thereof, whether separable or not, and also including material for
manufacture; and as so defined in N.J.S.A. 51:6-1.
The Chief of Police of the Township of Washington or his
designee/representative.
A computerized Internet-capable database with hardware and
software compliant to that set by the Chief of Police.
Any person, partnership, corporation, or other entity, whether
permanent or itinerant, who on one or more occasions (through any
means) buys or sells or otherwise exchanges or trades secondhand gold,
silver, precious metals, gems, or jewelry, and includes anyone advertising
the purchase or sale of any of the aforementioned items.
A person or entity that is appointed or designated by the
Chief of Police who is authorized to collect and maintain precious
metal transaction information, or other purchase information as defined
herein, for the Township of Washington.
A restricted monetary equivalent or scrip that is issued
by retailers or banks to be used as an alternative to a nonmonetary
gift.
Any business conducted intermittently within the Township
of Washington or at varying locations.
Any individual, natural person, partnership, joint venture,
business, society, associate, club, trustee, trust, corporation, or
unincorporated group, or an officer, agent, employee, servant, factor
or any form of personal representative of any thereof, in any capacity,
acting for self or on behalf of another.
Comprised of gold, silver, sterling, platinum and/or their
alloys as defined in N.J.S.A. 51:5-1 et seq., N.J.S.A. 51:6-1 et seq.,
and/or N.J.S.A. 51:6A-1 et seq.; gems, gemstones, coins and all forms
of jewelry herein contained.
Individuals and retail sellers, not to include wholesale
transactions or transactions between other merchants.
The exchange of money and the exchange, deposit, pledge,
sale, conveyance or trade of any tangible or intangible article.
Every transaction conducted by a dealer in which precious
metals, or other tangible property, are purchased or exchanged from
or with the public.
Any article previously sold, acquired, exchanged, conveyed,
traded or otherwise formerly owned, including but not limited to scrap
gold, old gold, silver, jewelry, home electronics/audio and visual
equipment, musical instruments, telephones and telephonic equipment,
scales, computers, computer hardware and software, typewriters, word
processors, scanners, sporting goods of all kinds, antiques, platinum,
all other precious metals, tools of all kinds, televisions, DVRs,
GPS, camcorders, car stereos, gift cards, furniture, clothing or other
valuable articles.
A dealer who has not been in any retail business continuously
for at least six months at that address in the municipality where
the dealer is required to register or who intends to close out or
discontinue all retail business in the Township of Washington within
six months; or as so defined in N.J.S.A. 51:6A-5 and N.J.A.C. 13:47C-1.1.
Each dealer conducting business within the jurisdiction of the Township of Washington shall first apply and be granted a business license as set forth in Chapter 133 (Licensing) and Chapter 40 (Business Licensing). The application for a license shall be accompanied by a fee payable to the Township of Washington in the form of a cashier's check, certified check or money order to defray the costs of the electronic database software system. The fee shall be the cost of the electronic database software system and not to exceed $300 per applicant. The paying of this fee shall make the applicant exempt from the Washington Township business registration fee.
Every dealer within the Township of Washington shall, upon the
purchase of any precious metals or secondhand goods from the public,
be required to do as follows:
A.
Record on a numbered receipt the name, address and telephone number
of the purchaser; the name, address and telephone number of the seller
or sellers; the time and date of the transaction; the net weight in
terms of pounds troy, pennyweight (troy) or kilograms/grams of the
precious metals; fineness in terms of karats for gold, and sterling
or coin for silver, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 51:5-1 et seq. and
N.J.S.A. 51:6-1 et seq. This information is to be documented through
use of an electronic database software system as designated by the
Chief of Police. These records shall be subject to the inspection
of any authorized police officer of the Township of Washington.
B.
Through the use of applicably required computer equipment, and using the electronic format approved by the Chief of Police, enter all transactions into the electronic database within 48 hours from the date of purchase. The information entered will contain the information in § 180-4A above, plus the following:
(1)
A physical description of the seller;
(2)
The receipt number;
(3)
A full description of the item or items purchased, including but
not limited to marks, numbers, dates, sizes, shapes, initials, monograms
and serial numbers.
(4)
The price paid for the item;
(5)
The form must be signed by the seller;
(6)
The form must be legibly initialed by the clerk or the dealer who
made the transaction so as to readily identify that individual;
(7)
A color photograph or color image of the seller's presented
identification;
(8)
A color photograph or color image of all items sold. When photographing
or imaging, all items must be positioned in a manner that makes them
readily and easily identifiable.
C.
The precious metals are to be made available for inspection by the
Chief of Police of the Township of Washington for a period of five
days from the date the information required above is received by the
Chief of Police on the approved form. The precious metals shall remain
in the same condition as when purchased and shall not be changed,
modified, melted or disposed of by the purchaser until the five-day
period has expired. If the property is such that it would create a
hardship on the dealer by holding the precious metals for such period,
the dealer may present the property to the Chief of Police in order
that it may be photographed and, if deemed necessary by the Chief
of Police, an investigation be implemented. The Chief of Police has
the authority to grant the dealer a waiver of the requirement under
this section.
D.
In the event of a database failure, or dealer's computer equipment
malfunction, all transaction information is required to be submitted
on paper forms approved by the Chief of Police. In the event that
paper forms are used, the dealer is responsible to enter all transaction
information into the database as soon as possible upon the dealer's
equipment being repaired or replaced or the database coming back into
service. Failure by the dealer to properly maintain computer equipment
in a reasonable fashion, or failure by the dealer to replace faulty
computer equipment, may result in the dealer being cited for a violation
of this chapter and subsequently being subject to the penalties for
doing so.
E.
It shall be the requisite duty of every dealer, and of every person
in the dealer's employ, to admit to the premises during business
hours any member of the Detective Unit of the Washington Township
Police Department to examine any database, book, ledger, or any other
record on the premises relating to the purchase of precious metals
from the public, as well as the articles purchased or received, and
to take possession of any article known by the police officer or official
to be missing or to have been stolen, or where the officer or official
has probable cause to believe the article is missing or stolen.
This chapter shall not apply to purchases made by jewelers or
other dealers from wholesalers or other suppliers but shall only apply
to those purchases made from the public or other retail purchases.
The dealer shall keep records of all wholesale purchases for a period
of six months from the date of such purchase, which records shall
be open to investigation by the Washington Township Police Department.
No dealer within the Township of Washington shall purchase any
precious metals from any person under the age of 18 years.
Violation of any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction
thereof, be punished by a minimum fine of $100 or a maximum of $2,000
or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days or by a period
of community service not exceeding 90 days. Each and every violation
shall be considered a separate violation. Every day that a violation
continues shall be a separate violation. Each violation shall result
in an additional ten-day suspension. Any person who is convicted of
violating the provisions of this chapter within one year of the date
of a previous violation and who was fined for the previous violation
may be sentenced by the court to an additional fine as a repeat offender.
The additional fine imposed as a repeat offender shall not be less
than the minimum or exceed the maximum fine provided herein, and same
shall be calculated separately from the fine imposed for the violation
of this chapter.
