Like most law enforcement agencies across North American, the Edmonton PS has been pursuing an alternative to the hardcopy reporting method currently in place for all pawnshops and used goods businesses in that jurisdiction. Over the course of four years, the alternatives were investigated and the Edmonton PS concluded that the Business Watch service was the most suitable solution as a local and regional transaction reporting repository.

Although alternatives were explored, the Edmonton PS wanted a system that was designed to offer the following:

• Scalability so that outlying law enforcement jurisdictions and businesses could avail of the technology in order to realize a truly "multi-jurisdictional" system.
• A comprehensive point-of-sale component to the system to facilitate the reporting of transactions in real-time from the businesses to the police.
• A comprehensive police tool to facilitate the investigations concerning stolen property

Mandatory use of the system by over 60 businesses was January 1, 2006