Local pawnshops and precious metal dealers say they’re generally happy with an upcoming change that will allow the Suffolk Police Department to locate and investigate pawned stolen items more quickly.

“I think it’s going to be a great improvement, because it will allow the police to actually see the item,” said James Salmon, manager of Precision Pawn. “With jewelry, just putting ‘a gold wedding band with diamonds’ doesn’t tell them much, but a picture’s worth a thousand words.”

Pawnshops currently have to keep paper logs on items they buy and deliver them to the police department daily. The serial numbers and descriptions of items are then manually entered into the state and national databases to ensure they are not stolen.

But the LeadsOnline software system will streamline and improve upon that process, Police Chief Thomas Bennett said in last week’s City Council work session.

The software will be installed on business owners’ computers. The city will pay $10,588 annually to LeadsOnline for fees, training, customer service, updates and maintenance.

The businesses will be able to upload item descriptions and photos as well as a copy of the identification of the person pawning the item. The police department will have access to the information immediately, and serial numbers are automatically checked against databases of stolen items. Records can be searched by item or by the person.

Other police departments in the area, with the exception of Norfolk, also use LeadsOnline or are in the process of getting it, Bennett said. Norfolk uses an internal system it developed.

The city received a grant for the cost of implementation and initial training, Bennett said. He expects the ongoing cost to be a wash because the new system is less labor-intensive.

“It’s my belief we’ll probably actually save money,” he said.

Bruce Bowles of D.B. Bowles Jewelers said he doesn’t have a problem with the new system.

“If it’s going to be a simple system that works, I have no problem with that,” he said. “This, as I understand it, will make it more of a seamless operation.”

Brent Hodgins, manager at Exclusive Pawn and Gun, said he favors the new system.

“If I buy something that was stolen, whoever sold it to me gets investigated that much quicker,” he said. “It’ll make it a lot easier for the (police) department, and it’s no real added labor for any of the stores that are reporting into it.”

John Russo III, general manager of Bunny’s Pawn Shop, said he would “see how it goes.” He’s hopeful the new system interacts with the one he already has.

Among other proposed new regulations are a surety bond of $50,000 for pawnshops, Bennett said. For precious metal dealers, the required bond would increase from $5,000 to $10,000, and the time dealers are required to retain purchased items would increase from six to 15 days.

For scrap metal dealers, proposed new ordinances include the electronic reporting as well as a requirement to get proof of lawful possession, the seller’s name, identification number and address as well as the license number of their vehicle, and maintain photos of the items for 30 days.

The ordinances are expected to go into effect in July.