Jewelry Store Robbery Prevention

Jewelry stores are high-profile targets for robbers. Retail jewelers are at the greatest risk. Crime against jewelry stores and firms result in losses over $125 million annually. On average, 10-15 homicides occur annually during jewelry store robberies. These losses of assets and life far exceed those of bank robberies.

Robbery Prevention Recommendations

· Do not open or close the store alone. One person should lock or unlock the doors, while a second person observes from a safe distance outside with a cellular phone, in order to summon the police if required.

· Never let a stranger into your store before or after business hours. Check the identity of all delivery personnel and other workers.

· Use an entrance control system such as the patented Access Control Vestibule™ to screen and admit customers to your store. This system features a built in weapons detector to prohibit access to armed robbers. Building and fire codes can be accommodated with this entrance control system.

There has never been an armed robbery at a store using the Access Control Vestibule™.
If you do not have a security entrance control system in place, you can take these steps to limit losses and violence:

· Have at least two employees on the showroom floor at all times. The chance of armed robbery goes up if there is only one person on the floor.

· Look at and greet all customers who enter your store. Criminals casing your store don’t like to be noticed.

· Use and properly maintain a visible video camera and recording system in your store. An obvious camera system acts as a deterrent to crime, and helps identify criminals who commit a crime in your store, or even who case your store with the intention of committing a future crime. If you have a second, concealed recorder in your store, you will still have visual evidence of the criminals even if they take the tape from the main recorder after a crime.

· Use display cases that have burglary resistant or reinforced glass on the sides as well as the top. This will further slow down the robber who is smashing cases.

· Have a highly visible one-way mirror installed on your premises so that potential robbers may think that someone is watching them from the other side. Robbers may be deterred by their fear of the “unknown,” that is, someone watching them from the other side of the mirror, and by fear of what the unknown person might do.

· Have an “alert system” in place for your store. If you believe you have suspicious persons in your store, have a code word or phrase to alert the other employees in your store that you believe a crime may be about to occur. A phrase such as, “Did Mr. Smith’s ring come in today?” will be effective in alerting the staff, and will not disturb genuine customers Employees should pass along the code word to their fellow employees until the entire staff is on notice of a suspicious situation.

· If you have a suspicious situation but no criminal event is yet underway, have one of your employees walk out of the store in a very visible manner, carrying and dialing a cell phone. Suspicious persons will be concerned that they have already been spotted, while genuine customers will scarcely notice. If the employee going outside can do so in a safe manner, he or she should also note car descriptions and license plate numbers.

· Split your higher value merchandise among different display cases. Robbers very frequently smash cases and remove goods themselves, rather than demand that the jeweler open the cases or safe. Time is of the essence for the robber who wants to get out of your store quickly. Making the robber’s job slower and more difficult will reduce the amount the robber can easily scoop up and take.

· Consider not displaying a significant percentage of the goods most tempting to criminals, such as high-end diamonds and watches. Some jewelers follow the practice of not keeping their valuable diamond inventory in the safe during the day, but rather conceal it elsewhere in the store so that criminals will overlook these diamonds if there is a robbery. These jewelers keep a decoy supply of stones in the safe to use if there is an armed robbery. If your store follows this procedure, be aware that gangs may case your store and ask to see diamonds for the specific purpose of observing where you keep them. They will watch where you go to get the diamonds you are showing.

· Be vigilant for individuals casing your store, that is, observing your premises and procedures as preparation for a robbery. Keep a suspicious incident log in a notebook, giving times, dates, descriptions, license plate numbers and any other details which may later be helpful. Report suspicions to the police. Get to know your local police, and discuss with them the special problems of jewelers.

· Develop a neighborhood alert system, by passing along warnings by phone, fax, or email to other jewelers in your area.

· During times of special risk at your store, such as during trunk shows or special events calling for unusually high value on your premises, consider hiring an off-duty police officer to serve as a security guard, preferably in his/her police uniform.