Articles and News
Beware The Current Jewelry Crime Dangers of Off-Site Events and Traveling With Jewelry: JSA October 25, 2021 (0 comments)
New York, NY—Three recent robberies show the dangers of traveling with jewelry, and the Jewelers Security Alliance warns that with jewelers traveling more and doing more in-person events, the risks for carrying merchandise on the road or out of a store will increase.
On Friday, October 15, a jeweler was robbed at 12:30 p.m. while sitting in his car in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, NY. The suspects (pictured) approached the 67-year-old jeweler and demanded he open his trunk. After a struggle, the suspects grabbed two bags from the trunk and fled in a black sedan with temporary New Jersey plates. The whole incident took 30 seconds. Anyone with information, contact Detective Giuseppe Giuca of the NYPD Major Case Squad in Brooklyn, at (718) 265-7353, or JSA, (212) 687-0328; jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org.
To see a video of the crime, go to: $1.2M jewelry robbery in Brooklyn (fox5ny.com)
The next day, October 16, jewelers in Naperville, IL, were robbed leaving a hotel after a private showing. At 11:00 p.m., the salespeople were leaving the hotel when three masked robbers forcibly took cases of merchandise from them after one of the jewelers struggled with one of the robbers. The robbers took off in a van with two other people inside.
Then on Tuesday, October 19, $120,000 worth of jewelry was taken in a carjacking in the Bronx, NY. A 27-year-old male victim was inside his vehicle at 11:00 p.m. when he was approached by suspects with guns. One suspect fired a shot in the direction of the victim, and another suspect forced the driver from the car. After driving a short distance, the suspect exited the vehicle, taking the jewelry.
Finally, in September, a traveling jewelry salesperson from Florida was zip tied in his hotel room in Worcester, MA. The salesperson had traveled to New Jersey, rented a car in Newark, NY, then traveled to the hotel in Worcester. The next morning, while in his room, criminals zip tied him and took his jewelry, car keys, and phone.
If you have information about either the Naperville, Bronx, or Worcester incidents, contact JSA at the numbers above.
JSA offers the following basic security recommendations when carrying jewelry off-premises. These recommendations apply not only to traveling salespersons, but also to retailers when delivering merchandise, going to special events, or at trade shows.
1. Never resist in a robbery, and never chase after the robbers. These criminals will not hesitate to use deadly force.
2. Salespersons must take evasive driving action after every sales call, and before returning to their hotel, home or office. Evasive driving tactics include driving very slowly, driving around the block, making U-turns or pulling into a bank or fast food parking lot. Are one or more cars following you? Be aware that gangs may be using multiple vehicles.
3. Vary your route and time when traveling between home and your jewelry business. Check occasionally to see if you are being followed.
4. As you drive to a retail location or your home, scout the area. Park as close to the main entrance to your destination as possible. Do not enter or exit by a rear or secluded entrance. Do not remain seated in your parked car for any length of time before or after sales calls.
5. Do not fall for distractions. If someone approaches you for change or directions, consider yourself a crime target and move on swiftly.
6. Do not leave jewelry merchandise in an unattended vehicle.
7. If you are being followed, call 911 and say I am about to be the victim of a robbery. If possible make your call obvious to the suspicious persons. When criminals see you using your cell phone after you have spotted them, they are less likely to pursue.
8. If you experience trouble with your car trunk lock, door lock or ignition key, or have a flat tire, radiator trouble or are bumped by another car, consider yourself a crime target. Immediately get yourself to a place of safety.
9. Jewelers should not take valuable jewelry merchandise to their homes.
10. Even if you are not carrying jewelry merchandise, if you are visiting jewelry premises and are carrying a bag of any sort, you are a target.
11. Gangs have been known to place GPS devices on the autos of salespersons. There are electronic devices available to detect the presence of GPS devices. Salespersons should also regularly inspect underneath their vehicle, and can carefully check their vehicle when a car is on a rack for an oil change.
12. Keep your travel plans confidential, including flights, departure and arrival times, hotels, rental cars and locations to be visited.
13. Do not gas up prior to returning a rental car. Either purchase through the rental car company beforehand, or simply return the car. It is important to limit your exposure to risk as much as possible, whether at rental car companies, restaurants, hotels, parking lots and elsewhere
14. When you are entering a hotel lobby to check in, be particularly careful you are not being followed.
15. Retailers and traveling salespersons should cooperate, so that when a salesperson leaves a store to drive away, the retailer can keep an eye on the salesperson to make sure the salesperson is not being followed.
16. Have adequate jewelry insurance. One uninsured crime loss can wipe out a lifetime of work.