Jewelry industry-related crime fell significantly in the first six months of 2013, according to the Jewelers’ Security Alliance.
The New York City-based industry group logged 740 incidents in the first half of the year, down from 844 in the same period in 2012. The dollar losses also fell, to $35.3 million, compared with $41.1 million the previous year. Both numbers are the lowest since 2008.
“The trend is down overall,” says JSA president John Kennedy.
The only statistic to see an increase is off-premises crime, with most of that being directed at jewelers. The JSA notes there 26 incidents occurred in the first half of the year. But, to put that in perspective, about a decade ago, there were more than 150.
Still, the scariest statistic might be that there continues to be a greater than usual amount of home invasions. While suspects have been arrested in a widely publicized Connecticut robbery, Kennedy notes that another home invasion was recently thwarted when the perpetrators noticed cameras.
“That shows these guys are still out there,” he says.
Sadly, there were two homicides in the period, the June 26 murder of Georgia jeweler Mitch Mobley and the separate killing of a travelling salesman. Since the first half of the year, there have been two more incidents involving homicide, Kennedy said: two people were fatally shot at a San Francisco jewelry store, and another jeweler was killed in New Mexico.
“There has definitely been a flurry, and that is disturbing,” Kennedy said.
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