ATTEMPTED BURGLARY, VAUGHAN ON, AND LONG WEEKEND BURGLARY ALERT

At some point over the night of Monday 16 - Tuesday 17 May 2022, unknown persons attempted to enter a retail jewellery business located in a commercial strip mall near Highway 7 and Highway 400 in Vaughan ON. A skylight was damaged and a hole was cut into the roof. Fortunately, the alarm system activated and the attempt was unsuccessful. No jewellery was stolen and there was only relatively?minor damage to other property. Police attended and are investigating.

COMMENT: There have been a number of attempted burglaries, as well as one successful burglary, of jewellery businesses located in strip malls in the York region in the last few weeks. We do not know whether these attempts are connected. It is however clear that there is at least one burglary gang currently at work targeting jewellers located in strip malls. If your business is located in a strip mall, whether in the York region or elsewhere, you are a target! Breaking an anti-burglary safe or vault open typically takes a considerable?amount of time, which is why gangs usually do so over a weekend, when jewellers are likely not to be in attendance. Monday 23 May 2022 is a holiday in many provinces, which provides an extra day for such gangs to carry out their work. Most successful safe burglaries occur over long weekends.?We assess that it is likely that a gang will attempt to carry out a burglary of a jewellery business, most probably located in a strip mall, over this coming Victoria Day weekend.?

The following is an excerpt from our LPB 28/2022 of 27 April 2022, which remains relevant:

*****

Jewellers should regard any of the following as an indication that their premises may be being burgled:?

????There is an unexpected and unexplained power failure at your premises

????There is a report of an unexpected internet outage which adversely affects your business' alarm system

????Your alarm system fails or reports a communications error

????There is an unexplained or repeated alarm event

????Your camera system fails?

Do NOT ignore these tell-tale signs! Jewellers should treat any of the above events as indications that their premises may be being burgled and take all appropriate preventative measures, which might range from initially contacting the alarm monitoring service for a status update to alerting the police that a burglary may be in progress.

*****

TIPS:

???Is your business located in a strip plaza or other public location which is mostly or completely unattended over weekends and to which intruders would have easy access? If so, you should consider yourself at increased risk of a serious burglary loss.

???Ensure your alarm system meets ULC Extent 3, Line Level A3. Alarm systems featuring Line Level P1, P2 or P3 are inadequate and are vulnerable to attack. Review your ULC alarm certificate and have your alarm company upgrade the system to??ULC Extent 3, Line Level A3 if necessary. Do not put this work?off!

??If you do not already have one, buy a TL30-X6, or better still a TRTL30-X6, ULC-certified anti-burglary safe. These safes offer much better resistance to attack than TL15s and TL30s, which we no longer recommend. If you have more than one safe, split the stock between the safes. Put more stock into the highest rated safe, and so on. If you must use a fire safe or unrated safe to store jewellery, keep as little in it as possible! Fire safes offer virtually no resistance to burglary.

???Over weekends, put as much jewellery away in your safes and vaults as you can, even if your policy permits you to leave more out. Once inside, burglars will take any jewellery they can, regardless of value. Don't make a gift of your jewellery to thieves! Make them work for it!

???Make sure you do not leave any customers' goods out of safe! The loss of even a small proportion of your customers' goods will probably cause you more trouble than the loss of your entire stock!

???Consider driving by your business at least once a day over long weekends. Look for unusual or unexpected activity, such as vehicles you do not recognise parked by your business, or groups of people nearby for no apparent reason, or using ladders to access the roof. Once inside, burglars will often draw curtains, drop blinds or put sheets of paper up inside store windows to prevent anyone viewing their activities. A unexplained and continuous loud noise may be the sound of someone cutting open your safe with a powered saw!

???You should treat unexpected power outages, alarm communications failures or other unexplained alarm events, including apparently false alarms, as indicators that your store is being burgled. Make sure you visit the store, or arrange for a member of staff to do so if you will be away. NB: If you are not sure it is safe to do so, do NOT approach or enter the store! Arrange to be accompanied by a security guard or police officer who will ensure it is safe to enter the store.?

???Repeated false alarms may be an indication that burglars are triggering the alarm to see if someone responds to it.?

???If there is a nearby business that will be open over extended periods when you are closed, such as a convenience store or take away restaurant, buy something, introduce yourself to the manager and give them your cell phone number. In at least one loss reported to us recently, the jeweller learned afterwards that restaurant workers nearby had heard the sound of a powered saw cutting open a safe at his business for extended periods, but were not sure what action to take, and so did nothing. A serious loss might have been prevented with a little foresight.

???Be one step ahead of the burglars! After he was burgled, a jeweller installed an inexpensive internet camera in his roof space above the false ceiling, and connected it via Wi-Fi to his cellphone. He was alerted to the early stages of a second burglary by the sounds of footsteps on the roof which were picked up by the camera's integrated microphone. He immediately contacted the police, who were able to arrest the perpetrators before they entered the store.?

???Make sure your records are up to date at all times! If the worst happens and you are burgled, you will depend on your record-keeping to prove your claim!?

?

For further information on crime prevention, please call CJB Insurance at 416-787-3427, or visit our website at?www.jewellersblock.com.