Get tough on crime

A few weeks ago, I attended a great session hosted by the Diamond Dealers Club of New York on crime against diamond dealers and jewelers or, more specifically, on how to prevent it.

I thought it was a very enlightening session and, now that the craziness of publishing our May 1, May 16 and June issues in the span of a few weeks has subsided, I thought it would be useful to share some tips from the meeting.

Both John Kennedy and Robert Frank, president and vice president, respectively, of the Jewelers' Security Alliance (JSA), attended, along with Daniel McCaffrey, a special agent with the FBI, and Sgt. Scott Guginsky, a detective with the NYPD.

Here are a few of the tips they shared. 

• Don't bring goods home if you can avoid it. Guginsky and McCaffrey also recommended diamond dealers think about registering their license plates to a post office box instead of their home. Apparently--and I did not know this--in New York, a lot of thieves case the Diamond District, jot down the license plates of dealers and use that information to find their home addresses. 
  

• Google yourself to see how much public information is out there. Be careful with your Facebook status updates, Tweets, etc.
  I felt a little funny about this portion of the meeting because we here at National Jeweler always are encouraging jewelers to get on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. to get their businesses out there. But I never stopped to consider security issues. How much widely available Web information is too much when you're in the jewelry business?
  Both McCaffrey and Guginsky think jewelers need to be careful about what they are sharing online.

• Don't let your guard down at home. If you're in the jewelry industry, you should be alert anytime somebody such as a flower deliveryman or UPS driver comes to the door. Train your family in this way as well; make sure they understand that they shouldn't just open the door to anybody.

• Invest in a state-of-the-art alarm system with line security for your home, if possible. If it just can't be done, then stick a sign from an alarm company in your front yard. Other at-home security measures jewelers should consider are good outdoor lighting and a dog.