NCJ Number
83237
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 49 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1982) Pages: 62-68
Date Published
1982
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The work of the antifencing units of the Denver Police Department (Colo.) and the St. Louis County Police Department (Mo.) is described.
Abstract
In the fall of 1975, funded by a LEAA block grant, the antifencing unit of the Denver Police Department was formed to combat the trafficking of stolen property in the Metropolitan Denver area. Over the 4 1/2 years of its funding, the unit arrested and convicted 300 fences, along with numerous other offenders. The primary problem was that, with the exception of one habitual criminal, none of those convicted went to prison for fencing activities. The unit found, however, that since most of the major fences were also involved in numerous additional crimes, they could be prosecuted for crimes serious enough to warrant incarceration. Much of the work of the unit has been done through elaborate undercover operations. The St. Louis County antifencing unit has provided a unique approval for countering fencing by targeting the fence rather than the thief, the creation of a public education program, the development of a nonserialized stolen property system, and the interaction of the unit with area police agencies and business persons. In several years of operation, the unit has proven its value through identification of more than 500 fencing outlets in the county, resulting in 688 arrests. The unit has recovered about $2.5 million dollars worth of stolen property. Case examples of the operations of the two units are provided.