The Jewelers Security Alliance reported in its preliminary crime report for the first half of 2011 that robberies involving jewelers are up 44 percent and burglaries are up 9 percent.

According to the report, during the first six months of the year there were 161 robberies involving losses of $19 million, up from 112 robbery cases with losses of $17 million in 2010. There were 139 burglary cases involving losses of $14 million, up from 128 burglaries with losses of $10 million in 2010.

However, thefts and off-premises crimes have fallen dramatically. JSA reports that in the first half of 2011, there were 369 thefts involving losses of $6 million, down 29 percent from the 517 cases during the same period in 2010.

“Overall, dollar losses from crime have continued their long trend downward in the U.S., and arrests have continued their trend up,” JSA president John Kennedy tells JCK.

JSA reported that there were 271 arrests made in crimes involving jewelers, up 8 percent from 2010. A total of $43.6 million in losses were reported, down one percent from the previous year. According to the report, two jewelers and two robbers were killed during the first half of the year.

“Crime trends for the rest of the year, or next year for that matter, are unpredictable. Like the stock market, crime trends don’t follow a linear route in one direction,” says Kennedy. “The most important figure in these statistics is that we have had the highest number of arrests in six years, and this is because of more effective law enforcement efforts and greater sharing of crime information among jewelers.”

JSA collects these stats from their membership, JSA’s law enforcement information sharing network, local jewelers’ crime prevention networks, non-member crime victims, associate trades (i.e. alarm, safe, and security companies), insurance companies, trade publications, media, the general public, and online sources.

JCK