JSA DOES IT QUIETLY

Invisible fences are an unobtrusive way to keep your dog from running out of your yard and being a nuisance or a traffic casualty. The “fence” is an underground wire that gives the animal a brief shock if it tries to cross the line; once shocked, it stays put.

But invisible fences also are useful to keep intruders from coming on to your property – especially if you’re talking about crooks and the fence, at least in part, is created by the Jewelers Security Alliance.

Our show in Las Vegas in June is an excellent example of what JSA can do. Probably not one in a thousand of those attending the show knew that JSA staffers spent a couple of weeks in the city before the show, briefing the local police and hotel security officers on the particulars of crime against jewelers. Nor did they know that JSA also briefed security teams at all major airports offering direct or connecting flights to Las Vegas. When JSA’s activities were meshed with those of the show security staff the result was a shutdown of crime against jewelers. Not a single significant incident occurred at the show to any person, exhibitor or buyer, going to or from the event.

JSA and its president, John Kennedy, didn’t stand up and seek any applause. That’s not JSA’s style. It goes about its business quietly and effectively 365 days a year.

One of the rare occasions when John Kennedy shucked the normal behind-the-scenes approach was in our August issue. His report there – part of JCK’s continuing Management Study Center series – was an extraordinary blueprint on security for the jeweler. John Michaels, head of the Michaels stores in New England and a past president of the American Gem Society, called it “the definitive work” on jeweler security.

For any of you who may have missed the report, JSA soon will help you out. The Alliance is about to publish an updated version of its security manual, which will cover all the points made in the August issue and more.

This manual should be required reading in every jewelry business. Crime against jewelers has always been bad and it’s getting worse. This is particularly true of the level of violence. The incidence of violence during a crime is rising quickly and South American gangs, a constant threat, increasingly are moving away from such distractions as cash-on-the-ground or ketchup-on-your-jacket to gun-in-your-face.

Given these frightening trends, every jeweler should give daily thanks, and regular support, to JSA and its invisible security fence. Crime is not something that’s going to go away and, no, it isn’t something that always happens to the other person.