The scheme has been set up jointly by the National Association of Goldsmiths and insurers T.H. March and the website www.safergems.org.uk is now live.
Although primarily focusing on jewellery crime, the scheme inevitably overlaps with the antiques and fine art trades. Its purpose is to collect and collate information on crimes and suspicious events. Members and non-members of the scheme can report incidents to the Safergems team, who will assess the data and co-ordinate with police.
The team includes a serving police officer with links to all the UK police forces, as well as those on the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
Guidance for dealers and staff for dealing with a crime and how to report it can be accessed freely from the website, but members of the scheme, which will include NAG members and T.H. March customers, will receive regular email alerts about suspicious activity and descriptions of suspects.
Jewellers have increasingly become the target for crime in recent years. In part this is due to improved security at banks and building societies, which has made thieves look for easier targets, and also a rise in activity of professional gangs.
In a recent survey of NAG members, 54 per cent of respondents said that they had been a victim of robbery within the past five years.
NAG chief executive Michael Hoare said: “The Safergems scheme will not prevent theft altogether, but it will assist jewellers to recognise and avoid hazardous situations, and assist the police to break up gangs of jewellery thieves at an earlier stage than at present.”
For more information see www.safergems.org.uk
