It’s a problem that Selma Mayor James Perkins says will solve a lot of heartache for retail store merchants throughout the local area.

In a public announcement issued by Perkins, Perkins said he has asked Selma Police Chief Robert Green to purchase a programmable fax machine “with multi-number autodial capability” for the police department.

He said the machine is to be programmed with all retail store fax numbers and “will send out stolen and some bad checks information to all participating merchants the moment the [police] department is notified of the problem.”

Said Perkins, “[This] should substantially reduce the retail merchant’s chances of accepting stolen and bad checks by putting us a step ahead of people attempting to deal in bad checks.”

Perkins said he has called the new process SPRINTS, which stands for Selma Police Retailer Interactive Notification Telefax System.

He added that people who have either lost or had their checks stolen “may experience some delays and inconveniences due to the extra monitoring.”

“However,” said Perkins, “I would be especially pleased if I had reported my checkbook stolen and the cashier delays my transaction because my checking account number and name showed up in SPRINTS.”

Perkins said he encourages all retail merchants within Selma to participate in the program “because by doing so, they help each other.”

Said Perkins, “It is simple and it is a winning arrangement for everyone except the person who is trying to pass bad and stolen checks in Selma.”

Those who require more information are asked to contact Green at 874-2120.