2008

JSA: Crime Fell in 2007

June 2008

Overall crime in the jewelry industry fell by a substantial margin in 2007, according to statistics compiled by the Jewelers' Security Alliance.

There were 1,291 criminal events in 2007, down 9.2 percent when compared to 2006 figures (1,422 events), JSA said. The amount of dollar losses fell 11.9 percent to $97.1 million, when compared to 2006 figures ($110.2 million). Losses in dollars fell 41 percent since 1998, when it totaled $164.66 million.

Dollar losses for on-premise crime (which includes robberies, thefts, and burglaries at jewelry locations) fell 26 percent to $57.6 million. There were 1,114 crime events for 2007, a 12.1 percent drop year-over-year.

The most active state for on-premise crime (out of 36 states that reported) was California, followed by Texas, Florida, and New York.

There were four persons killed during crime events at jewelry locations, according to JSA. However, three of the victims were criminals.

The only incident of someone in the industry being killed in 2007 was in November, when a New York City jeweler was stabbed to death by an employee who was caught stealing jewelry.

Off-premise crime events rose sharply in 2007, JSA reports. Dollar losses increased by 21.5 percent to $35.2 million and the number of cases rose 14.2 percent to 177. Traveling salespersons are almost always the victims of "off premise" crime incidents.