Independents
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Jewelers Mutual offers crime-prevention tips
December 02, 2008
Neenah, Wisc.--In response to recent jewelry store crimes that have affected several Jewelers Mutual Insurance Co. policyholders, the insurer has issued a series of tips designed to help jewelers avoid what it says are two increasingly common crimes: smash-grab-and-run and safe/vault burglaries.
Smash-and-grabs, the most common type of jewelry store burglary, often occur when jewelry is left out of the safe overnight and is visible from the store's exterior. This exposure entices burglars to smash through glass windows or doors and quickly steal the merchandise. In addition to significant jewelry losses, these crimes can cause extensive physical damage to the store's windows, doors and showcases, and often result in lost selling time as well, according to a press release from Jewelers Mutual issued on Monday.
Jewelers Mutual suggests the following preventive measures for smash-and-grab burglaries:
--Place merchandise in a safe or vault overnight. If you don't have room in your safe or vault, place the lower-valued merchandise in a locked cabinet or drawer, out of sight. Be sure to comply with your insurance policy provisions in regards to merchandise during closed-to-business hours.
--Place customer repairs in the safe or vault; don't leave them in your work area.
--Remove all jewelry from show windows at night.
--Do not cover showcases. Covering them gives criminals the perception that there's something worth stealing in the showcases.
--Use Underwriters Laboratories (UL)-listed burglary-resistant glazing material on windows and showcases to slow down potential criminals.
--Verify that your burglar alarm system is on and working.
Jewelers Mutual says it has also seen an uptick in more sophisticated burglaries that involve attempts to disable alarms and enter safes. Sometimes burglars gain access to a jewelry store by cutting a hole in the roof or in a common wall shared with an adjacent business. In those cases, guards or police officers responding to burglar alarm signals might not be able to detect exterior signs of forced entry and might leave without further investigation. In other instances, burglars might trigger an alarm signal and wait to see who responds and how long it takes.
Jewelers Mutual suggests the following preventive measures for incidents that involve alarms or safes:
--Insist on a UL-certificated Central Station burglar alarm system, if available. The certificate serves as evidence that the premises, safes and/or vaults are protected by a burglar alarm system meeting UL requirements for installation, operation and maintenance.
--Confirm that your alarm system provides line security. Any conventional burglar alarm system is vulnerable to defeat or compromise (severing communication paths between the store and the alarm monitoring facility without triggering an alarm signal). Line security systems reduce this vulnerability by detecting any compromise attempt on your alarm connection. Without line security, jewelers do not have adequate burglar alarm protection.
--Confirm that your security system can detect an unauthorized entry through the roof, a rear exit, a bathroom window, an air conditioning unit or through a wall. If you're unsure of the extent of your protection, contact your alarm service provider.
--Test your alarm system periodically and confirm with your alarm service company that your alarm system has received proper maintenance.
--Respond to all alarm signals. Never take an alarm signal for granted and assume it is a false alarm.
--Provide your alarm service company with a key to your premises if they provide guard services, so that when guards respond to an alarm, they can conduct a thorough investigation.
--Provide your alarm service company with cell phone numbers for an owner and/or designated employees so they can be contacted in an alarm condition.
--Store merchandise in a UL-listed, burglary-resistant safe when you are closed to business. Burglars use a variety of tools that allow them to easily enter a wide range of safes and vaults. To provide resistance until authorities arrive, safes, modular vault panels and vault doors should meet UL ratings for burglary-resistance.
Jewelers Mutual pays for policyholders' subscriptions to the Jewelers Security Network, a system that quickly alerts jewelers to crimes against their peers. If you are a Commercial Lines policyholder and wish to receive the alerts, send your updated e-mail address to communications@jminsure.com.
For additional security tips, visit JewelersMutual.com. To get information on JM University's online training courses, which are free to policyholders, call (800) 558-6411.
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