5 security mistakes jewelers make during the holidays

Two FBI agents recently took the time to talk with National Jeweler about security during the holiday season, a time when jewelers get busy and lapses could happen.

Michelle Graff michelle.graff@nationaljeweler.com

FBI Special Agent Eric Ives

New York--Three weeks to go until Halloween and the first of the holiday sales predictions are rolling in already.

Jewelers are preparing to put their November-December marketing plans into action, ensuring they have the right merchandise stocked, and law enforcement officials say they also should be thinking about store security.

Jay Bartholomew and Eric Ives are special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation who recently took the time to talk with National Jeweler about security during the holiday season, a time when jewelers get busy and lapses could happen.

Every case in the FBI that involves jewelry falls under Bartholomew’s purview, and Ives is familiar with jewelry crime as well--he used to have Bartholomew’s job before moving to a different role within the bureau.

What follows is a list of five security missteps that are common among retailers during the busy season, and the agents’ suggestions on how to avoid them.

1. Not following set procedures in the store. The majority of jewelers have security policies and procedures in place that they follow throughout the year. There is no reason to deviate from these, ever. “A lot of times with the holidays, we get distracted and maybe a little bit complacent,” Bartholomew says. “It’s Christmastime, everybody’s in a good mood, you got the Christmas music going … that plays into it.”

The festive mood, and the high volume of customers in the store, could lead retailers and their employees to not follow normal procedures, such as pulling more merchandise from the case at one time than normal or not keeping an eye on the pieces they are showing because the store’s crowded.

Complacency leads to distractions, which leads to “opportunity for the bad guys,” Bartholomew says.

Whatever a store’s normal security procedures are the other 10 months of the year need to be followed just as closely, if not more closely, during the holidays. “The holiday season is a time when you would enforce security procedures more because it’s that time of year when you are most likely to be distracted,” Ives says.

2. Dropping one’s guard outside the store. The generally upbeat vibe around the holiday season also can lead to jewelers having a false sense of being more secure when they are outside the store. But they always should be on alert.

When leaving the store late at night, coming in early in

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the morning or, for those retailers with more than one location, shuttling between stores, retailers need to be cognizant of the fact that somebody could be watching.

“They (criminals) are doing surveillance. And they are quite sophisticated at surveillance,” Bartholomew said.

Jewelers always should park near the store in good lighting.

Also, he says they need to be aware that whenever they have a flat tire, what seems like a random and unexpected problem with their car--such as the door suddenly not opening--or are involved in a minor fender bender that it might not be an accident at all but an attempt by criminals to delay or stop them for a robbery. “I would just be really cognizant of the fact that it could be a set up,” in all these situations, Bartholomew says.

He stresses situational awareness: Are you being followed? Is somebody watching you?

3. Not communicating. Retailers shouldn’t get so caught up in holiday sales that they forget to share crime alerts and bulletins with their staff, or with other jewelers for that matter.

Ives says there are hundreds of success stories that have resulted from the Jewelers’ Security Alliance circulating its bulletins, communicating directly to jewelers and through the industry’s regional security networks.

Ives says jewelers should share these with their employees and with other local jewelers as well. “It’s all about communication and communication within your store and within your industry,” he says. “That goes a long way toward crime prevention.”

4. Having equipment that doesn’t work or is obstructed. Check that the store’s security cameras and related equipment are working. Ives says while he would do this every day, he knows that isn’t always likely to happen so, “Use this article as an excuse to go out and check your gear. Make sure it works,” he says.

Jewelers that do decorate with trees, ornaments and other festive items need to make sure they are not obstructing security cameras or giving potential criminals a place to escape employees’ view.

Ives also says jewelers need to wipe down their display cases, which can get quite smeared during the busy season, continually. “When you have a nice, clean surface it picks up a lot of fingerprints,” he says.

5. Slacking off on screening part-time employees because help is really wanted. Bartholomew says if it at all possible, retailers should follow the same procedures they use for hiring full-time employees.

Ives seconds this; if a store normally does background checks, then do background checks with part-time holiday help. “Get to know them,” he says. “Understand whom you are hiring.”

Remember: a jeweler is not hiring someone to flip hamburgers but, rather, to be trusted with high-value merchandise. “Just don’t be complacent about it for the sake of expediency,” Bartholomew says.

Jewelers wanting more information on store security are encouraged to visit the Jewelers’ Security Alliance website where they can get tips from those who are experts on crime, and crime trends, against the jewelry industry. “At the end of the day, we look at it from a really different perspective,” Bartholomew says.

Michelle Graffis the editor-in-chief at National Jeweler, directing the publication’s coverage both online and in print.