Jewelry Crime Continues to Drop

The number of crimes has totaled 528 through the first six months of the year, a 6 percent decline from the same period last year.

Michelle Graff michelle.graff@nationaljeweler.com

New York--The mid-year report from the Jewelers’ Security Alliance shows that jewelry crime is continuing its decline this year.

There have been a total of 528 crimes perpetrated against jewelers, jewelry stores and traveling jewelry salesmen in January through June 2016, compared with 562 in the same period last year. That’s a 6 percent drop.

Dollar losses fell in lockstep, declining 7 percent, from $33.2 million to $30.8 million.

There was one homicide in the first six months of the year, the June murder of traveling jewelry salesman Muhammed Shaikh, 42.

According to The Dallas Morning News, Shaikh was at a gas station near the Dallas airport when he saw several people breaking into his rental car. When he confronted them, he was forced into another vehicle and driven off, and later found dead about two miles away.

In an interview with National Jeweler on Wednesday, JSA President John Kennedy said Dallas and Houston currently are “areas of concern,” as there are gangs operating there who are going after traveling salesmen.

Shortly after Shaikh’s murder, another traveling jewelry salesman was targeted in a gas station parking lot but managed to escape.

“It’s dangerous in that area at this moment for traveling salespeople,” Kennedy said.

On a category-by-category basis, crime was down across the board, with the exception of thefts.

The number of robberies (robberies involve the taking of property through the use of force or fear) dropped mostly sharply, declining 31 percent year-over-year. There were 132 robberies by this point last year and only 91 this year.

The number of off-premises crimes, which includes attacks against traveling salesmen, fell from 21 to 18, while burglaries were down 5 percent, from 115 to 109.

But while the overall number of burglaries has fallen so far this year, Kennedy said there have been an “unusual” number involving the suspects breaking into stores in the middle of the night by driving a vehicle into them. There have been 11 such incidences so far this year, compared with just two in 2015.

He said it is unclear at this point if these crimes are being perpetrated by a specific group or are unrelated.

The JSA recommends that jewelers have planters or stanchions installed outside their stores, if they are able to do so.

Declining along with the number of crimes so far this year is the number of arrests. They’ve dropped from 209 to 132,

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but have included a few high-profile apprehensions, including the armed female robber and the arrest of the majority of the members of a smash-and-grab crew operating in California.

Kennedy said the drop in industry crime is attributable to a number of factors, chief among them the increased interest law enforcement agencies have in investigating jewelry crimes, which can be tied to money laundering, and, in turn, linked to terrorism.

Also helping is technology, which has made it easier to share information, and the increased cooperation between the industry and law enforcement agencies.

It’s also worth noting that there are fewer jewelry stores today and far fewer traveling salesmen, a major target for criminals.

Thefts, the only category of crime to see an increase, rose 5 percent, from 294 to 310. Theft is the taking of property without the use force or fear and includes grab-and-runs, switches, credit card fraud, and distraction and sneak thefts.

JSA received reports of 187 grab-and-runs in retail jewelry stores, 49 distraction thefts and 36 sneak thefts through the first six months of the year.

Kennedy said jewelers need to keep their showcases locked, except when taking out product and putting it back in, and avoid showing too much product at one time. Don’t, for example, pull out multiple watches or bring out an entire tray of rings, he said.

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