Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Comm. Ken Meyers and Ald. Leslie Hairston (5) speak during a license committee meeting on Wednesday.

A proposal to clamp down on the market for stolen cell phones by tightening regulations on pawn shops glided through a City Council committee on Wednesday. But if police and city licensing officials don’t step up their enforcement of violations, the new rules could be toothless, some aldermen warned.