US: Jewelry crimes up 3.5% in 2009
Post Date: 22 Mar 2010 Viewed: 524
The number of jewelry industry-related crimes in the United States rose slightly in 2009, a National Jeweller report, quoting data released by the Jewelers' Security Alliance (JSA), said.
According to the report, the number of crimes against the jewelry industry in the US totaled 1,557 in 2009, up from 1,505 in 2008. Total dollar losses from these crimes declined from $103.5 million in 2008 to $97.7 million in 2009 (-5.6%).
According to the JSA, on-premises criminal events totaled 1,420 in 2009, a 7.7% increase from 2008, which amounted to $72.9 million in losses - up 20.3% from 2008.
Off-premises events fell from 187 in 2008 to 137 in 2009, a 26.7% drop. The JSA stated that the two major reasons for the decline in off-premises attacks were greater enforcement by local police and the FBI, and the significant decrease in the number of traveling salespeople on the road due to the economy.
As for geographical segmentation, California led in 2009 in the number of jewelry crimes, with a total of 223, followed by Florida (133), Texas (110), New York (106) and New Jersey (58). According to the report, the states with the least amount of jewelry crime in 2009 were South Dakota and Vermont.