Jewelers Mutual Group Spearheads Movement to Reduce Jewelry Crime

It’s been a notably bad year for crime in the jewelry industry. Some unsettling stats courtesy of the Jewelers’ Security Alliance: In the U.S., jewelry industry crime is up 14% from the previous year—and up 50% from 2019. California jewelers experienced a 200% increase in smash-and-grab robberies in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the first quarter of 2021. And in some Canadian communities, daytime crime—including armed robberies, smash-and-grabs, and grab-and-runs—have increased over 300% year-over-year.

“What we’re seeing are more high-profile, brazen attacks that happen quickly and result in high-dollar losses,” said Mike Alexander, chief operating officer at Jewelers Mutual. “The threat is real and it’s affecting the lives and livelihoods of jewelers everywhere. In this day and age, it’s not about if your business will be impacted by crime, but when.”

In response to surging crime, Jewelers Mutual Group has launched a program that’s more a movement than a campaign. Called Partner for Protection, it’s is a rallying cry for the jewelry industry—one designed to heighten awareness of the crime wave and ultimately lead to the reduction of crime in the industry.

Partner for Protection encourages jewelers to take collective action against crime by staying vigilant in their jewelry communities and holding themselves accountable to higher safety and security standards in their places of business.

Business owners join the Partner for Protection movement by pledging to:

• Rethink their security strategy and make safety a top priority for their jewelry business
• Stay vigilant and follow safety and security best practices
• Be a leader in getting the message out to their staff, neighbors and jewelry community

Jewelers Mutual is assisting these efforts by investing in additional loss prevention education, collaborating with security experts, and making enhancements to its Risk Services portfolio to help keep jewelers, their staff and stores safer and more secure.

“Known for decades as an industry leader in loss prevention expertise, Jewelers Mutual wants to empower the jewelry industry to think differently about crime and rethink their safety strategy,” reads the Partner for Protection credo. “Jewelers Mutual believes a safer jewelry business is a more successful one.”

To read more about Partner for Protection and to join the movement, visit PartnerForProtection.com