A pawnshop chain that claims it was subjected to a campaign of police harassment after it refused to upload its transaction histories into a law enforcement database has scored a victory in its long-running lawsuit against the New York City government.
Gem Pawnbrokers claims that, starting in 2011, police began conducting frequent, warrantless searches at its stores that sometimes turned hostile after the company ceased participation in a program in which the New York City Police Department collected transaction records from pawnbrokers in the city that it would use for investigations.
