Diamond Dealers Club president Moshe Mosbacher convened a seminar on "Crime Against Diamond Dealers and Jewelers" last week. Mosbacher noted that this subject was of high-priority and concern for DDC members, particularly in light of two recent armed robberies in the area, one of which ended in the tragic shooting death of an industry member just a few blocks from DDC Headquarters on 47th Street.

The DDC convened a panel of prominent experts in the field of crime and security: FBI Special Agent Daniel McCaffrey, New York City Detective Sergeant Scott Guginsky, and John Kennedy and Robert Frank, respectively president and vice president of the Jewelers’ Security Alliance. The speakers reviewed such subjects of concern to industry members as home hostage situations, armed robberies in stores, memo fraud and store break-ins. All the speakers agreed that industry members must be eternally vigilant and watchful in order to minimize the opportunities for crime against them. Deterrence was emphasized, especially in certain situations, such as when industry members are on the road, in parking lots or even while at home.

The law enforcement representatives focused particularly on the need of industry members to bring to the attention of appropriate authorities any suspicious activity. They indicated that this enables them to see patterns of behavior that could make it easier to make arrests and prosecutions.

JCK