BURGLARIES, ETOBICOKE, OAKVILLE AND BARRIE, ON - May 30, 2022

LPB 39/2022

ETOBICOKE: we have received a report that a retail jewellery store in an enclosed mall in Etobicoke ON was broken into early on the morning of Thursday 26 May 2022, before the store opened for business. Reportedly, jewellery left in showcases overnight was taken. The amount of the loss is unknown and we have no further details.

OAKVILLE: we have received a report that on or around Thursday 26 May 2022, a retail jewellery store in a commercial strip mall located near Trafalgar Road and Cornwall Road in Oakville ON was broken into. The amount of the loss is unknown and we have no further details.

BARRIE: an attempt was made to enter a retail jewellery business located in a commercial strip mall in Barrie ON at approximately 2 AM on Sunday 29 May 2022. Fortunately the jeweller's alarm system detected the early stages of the entry, defeating the attempt. Barrie police responded and are investigating.?

COMMENT: Burglars continue to be active in southern Ontario. Jewellers in the Toronto region should continue to take precautions against burglary. While any jewellery business can be burgled, loss reports over the last few weeks suggest that jewellers located in strip malls are particularly likely to be targeted.?

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!?