For all the joy Thanksgiving and the holiday season bring, they also—sadly—can leave jewelry stores vulnerable to crime.

“This is an ideal time for jewelers to get hit, while they are eating their turkey,” Scott Guginsky, executive vice president of the Jewelers’ Security Alliance (JSA), tells JCK. “Burglars don’t take holidays. Historically, JSA has seen that burglars take advantage of the holiday weekends, knowing that jewelers are closed.”

A store employee should be available during the holiday weekend to respond to any kind of service interruption—a power failure, security camera malfunction, internet outage, communication error, or loss of cell phone service. Any of these could be a sign that criminals are either trying to break into the store or testing to see whether anyone responds to service breaks.

When jewelers respond to these issues, they should never do it alone, Guginsky cautions. Instead, they should go to the store accompanied by a police officer or security guard.

Thieves who target jewelry stores may be “using [illegal] cell phone and Wi-Fi jammers,” explains Guginsky. “So if you go to the store and they’re using one of them, you’ll be left outside the store without any way to call 911.”

He advises reporting any kind of suspicious activity to both local authorities and the JSA (at jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org). Someone will be monitoring the JSA’s email over the holiday weekend, Guginsky notes.

After Thanksgiving, the season presents other security challenges.

Stores typically order extra merchandise for the holidays—sometimes too much to fit into its vaults and safes. But inventory left out on a show floor can be a tempting target for crooks.

“Then we’re not dealing with sophisticated criminals—we’re just dealing with opportunists doing three-minute burglaries,” Guginsky says.

It’s especially important to lock away jewelry that’s been brought in for repair—as a stolen heirloom can’t be replaced.

If you hire short-term employees for the holidays, make sure they know the store’s security protocols.

“Seasonal help should be trained properly on security procedures,” Guginsky says. “Even if they’re only working for you for a couple months, they need to understand the different type of crimes that affect the jewelry industry.”

Carrie Volp, vice president of commercial lines operations for industry insurer Jewelers Mutual, says all employees should learn what security measures to take “at opening and closing, and in the event of a casing or theft. The extra time spent in preparation will ensure the safety of your staff and customers during the holidays.”

More security tips can be found at the JSA’s website and in this article.

(Photo: Getty Images)

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