CUMBERLAND — Chances have increased in Maryland for the arrest of thieves who steal property and then sell it to unsuspecting pawnbrokers, precious metals dealers or vehicle salvage yards.

Thanks to the Regional Automated Property Information Database that is coordinated by Maryland State Police, law enforcement throughout Maryland are benefited by a prompt electronic reporting of items sold to precious metal dealers and pawnbrokers.

The RAPID system was created by a new law effective Oct. 1 that requires second-hand precious metal dealers and pawnbrokers to electronically report to the primary law enforcement agency in the county of their operation, by noon the next day, all purchases of jewelry, precious metals and other second-hand goods.

“We are pleased that access to time-sensitive, comprehensive information through a state database has so quickly impacted the ability of law enforcement agencies to solve crimes, recover stolen property and bring criminals to justice,” said Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. Terrence Sheridan.

Sheridan was referring to the results from the first month of operation of the RAPID system when more than $50,000 worth of stolen property was recovered across the state.

Numerous arrests were made for burglary, theft and theft scheme and various search warrants were executed by virtue of the RAPID system. The arrests were made in St. Mary’s, Howard, Wicomico, Montgomery, Baltimore and Frederick counties.

Allegany County State’s Attorney Michael Twigg said the RAPID program “is an excellent tool that will help our investigative techniques.” No local cases have been developed yet in connection with the RAPID system.

The point of contact for the program in Allegany County is the C3I Unit. A detective assigned to the unit has been involved in the training and application of the system for several months. The training was also provided to pawnshop and precious metals dealers.

James T. Weir, owner and operator of Awesome Gifts & Collectibles at 662 Greene St., said the RAPID system will be an improvement over the previous system and will eliminate some paperwork, although the licensed second-hand precious metals dealer will continue to keep his own central file in addition to the RAPID database.

“It is simple enough and easy enough to use, and I think as we get down the road with this system, it’s going to be cost-saving and time-efficient,” said Weir.

Reports are filed by the pawnbrokers or precious metals dealer at the point of sale. Seller and item information is entered into the system and the seller signs off on the information for entering into the RAPID database.

Efforts to obtain comment from local pawnshops were unsuccessful. Two businesses said they were too busy to comment while the owner of a third business was out of town.

Coordination assistance in the RAPID database program is provided by the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention and a County Administrators Board comprised of county and state law enforcement representatives throughout Maryland.

Contact Jeffrey Alderton atContact Jeffrey Alderton at jlalderton@times-news.com.