SaferGems warns of 15 per cent rise in the cost of retail crime

The BRC’s report suggests that the 15.6 per cent rise represents an upsurge in criminal activity and, when including crime of all types, takes the total estimated lost revenue to £1.6 billion.

“The BRC’s report can be unsettling reading. What it really shows is that the number of crime incidents is rising across all categories, except for cases of robbery and violence against staff,” remarked a SaferGems spokesperson.

“Among these, customer thefts were the most common retail crime, accounting for 83 per cent of all incidents. However, over the last year the BRC’s results show the biggest fall in the reporting of incidents to the police, so there could be a lot we’re not getting from this report.”

Despite ‘e-crime’ being noted as crime’s rising tide, the report revealed that the retail sector suffered around two million shoplifting incidents in 2012, amounting to around £200 million worth of goods.

“The average cost of each incident also trebled to £3,005 from £989 the previous year as a result of more serious, organised offending,” the report stated.

Alarmingly, the survey found that, on average, nearly one in 20 stores suffered a robbery during the year.

SaferGems co-founder and Jewellery Focus columnist Michael Hoare said: “These figures are concerning when you consider SaferGem’s figures for the last year. We’ve seen approximately £15 million worth of goods stolen in 2012 alone and we know we’re currently only serving about 50 per cent of the retail jewellery market. Reports of incidents haven’t increased noticeably but the main thing we’re seeing is, as suggested in the BRC report, organised gangs targeting high-value goods.

“Over the past year we’ve seen SaferGems scupper 120 crimes in progress, contribute to 17 arrests, and provide information resulting in four convictions. As data is often limited and we don’t always find out what happens once the police have taken on a case, it’s hard to tell how much crime there is out there, and how much we’re stopping.

“However, what this means for SaferGems is that it needs to try and make itself more visible, both to jewellers and to potential criminals, and report suspicious incidents before the event. In this way it can continue to grow, spread its message and collect data from the industry to see what the real impacts are and measure its real impact on jewellery-related crime. Not only that, SaferGems needs to acknowledge its role as a silent deterrent to criminals thinking about targeting a jeweller.”