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Robbery, theft and violent crimes against jewelers and diamond dealers have taken a double blow in recent years due to the weak economy and stronger law enforcement, but experts warn that it is never a good time to be complacent.
"Retailers have lower inventories, and there are greater efforts by law enforcement and more information sharing by jewelry retailers," John Kennedy, president of the Jewelers' Security Alliance, told New York Diamonds.
According to JSA figures, the total number of crimes against the industry decreased by 4.5 percent from 1,557 incidents in 2009 to 1,487 in 2010, with total dollar losses declining from $97-7 million to $80.8 million, a decrease of 17.3 percent. FBI and local law enforcement agencies
arrested 538 people who allegedly attacked the industry in the course of the year.
"It's reduced, but still quite a bit of a problem," FBI agent Dan McCaffrey said. "There are a couple of trends I know about, such as street gangs that are involved in smash-and-grab robberies who have been attacking jewelers. Also, there are grab-and-runs, where someone asks to see an expensive watch or piece of jewelry and just runs out of the store with it." There were 377 grab-and-run crimes on JSA's radar last year, up slightly from 359 in 2009.
The number of robberies in 2010 increased 3.6 percent, to 259. Robbery arrests increased 4.7 percent to 170, but robbery dollar losses decreased to $28.4 million, down 19 percent compared to 2009. There were also …