It shall be the duty of every junk dealer, and every class of dealer in secondhand personal property, and of every person in a dealer's employ, to admit to the premises during business hours any member of the Metropolitan Police Force to examine any book or other record on the premises, as well as the articles purchased or received, and to search for and take possession of any article known by the police officer or official to be missing or known or believed by him or her to have been stolen, without the formality of the writ of search warrant of any other process. The foregoing search or seizure is specifically authorized by this section.
It shall be a violation of the provisions of this chapter for any licensed junk dealer, or any class of dealer in secondhand personal property, or any agent, clerk, or employee of any such person who shall molest, hinder, or in any manner prevent any official lawfully authorized, or the Chief of Police, or any member of the police force who is so authorized, from making an inspection and search of the premises and taking into possession any article or articles known by the officer, or alleged or supposed to have been feloniously taken from the owner of possessor, or known or believed by the police official to have been stolen.
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 16, r. 16-1005