Equipment Corner

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SecurityAlert Network

“CLASS I” Vault Burglary in Atlanta Area

Another retail jewelry store was successfully burgled in the greater Atlanta area in the early morning hours of Monday, September 26. This store had a UL certified alarm system with line security via internet with cellular backup. They also had a Class I modular vault and door with vault complete protection which means there were vibration sensors on the walls of the vault as well as door protection. A Class I vault is rated as equivalent to or better than a TRTL 30X6 safe. The phone and internet lines were cut and one of the owners received a call from the alarm company at 3:30am advising of a communication failure on the alarm meaning that the alarm was not getting a signal from the alarm system. Insured did not respond and go to the premises to check the situation nor were the police dispatched. Burglars then broke into the back door of the next door vacant premises and then cut a hole through the firewall into the store premises. Once there they were able to cut into the modular vault and take all the merchandise inside the vault and in the showcases. The loss was extensive.

RESPOND TO ALL ALARM CALLS!

It is a common tactic of burglars to cut the phone/internet line and then to wait for a response from either the police and or the store owner. Once they are sure no one is responding they are free to go to work gaining entry and burglarize safes, vaults, and showcases. For your protection please respond to all calls from your alarm company by checking the premises -- along with the police for your safety -- to make sure a burglary is not in progress. This should include making sure the phone and internet lines are intact and working on the outside of the building. Getting up in the middle of the night to go to your premises is a better alternative than a potential wipe-out burglary in which your inventory is gone, your store ruined and your are out of business for at least a short time. Maybe even longer if your insurance coverage is insufficient to cover the loss. Please protect your inventory and your livelihoood by checking your store after communication failure calls as well as breach of alarm calls.. Many of these safe/vault losses could have possibly been prevented had the owner gone to check his premises.

BURGLARIES IN THE ATLANTA AREA

#1. An attempted burglary of a jewelry store just north of Atlanta was thwarted when the store’s cellular backup unit responded to the intrusion. The store had UL approved line security through internet but previously had many line failures including in the middle of the night. Burglars cut the phone/internet line and central station was notified of the line failure without a breach of the premises and insured was called. Insured interpreted this as another line failure and they and the police did not respond. Burglars waited an hour and assuming the alarm system was now out of commission proceeded to cut open the rear door, storm in and pull the alarm panel and phone panels off the wall. Fortunately the store also had a cellular backup system that responded when security was breached and the police were called and responded but the burglars had fled upon realizing the alarm went off. The only loss was damage to the door, alarm system and phone systems.

Line failures with internet security are a common problem and this leads to the problem of lack of response in the middle of the night after several times of being called and responding to false alarms. The first and best solution would be greater reliability of the internet which is not likely. Therefore a cellular backup provides additional security in the event of an internet line failure and is highly recommended for any internet alarm installation.

#2. Sunday a store in the Atlanta area suffered a safe burglary in which three TL30 or better safes were breached and the contents removed. Just as above the store had internet line security that had been down many times before and as above the internet/phone line was cut, store personnel were notified and decided it was a false alarm. Burglars then entered the store and the ONLY difference was this store did not have cellular backup so no alarm signal was sent resulting in a very large loss.

There are internet line security units that have a built-in cellular backup. However these units are not approved for UL line security installations so stores with UL-approved line security installations would need to install a separate cellular unit. Contact your alarm company for further details. However, there is now a new line security option... security lock

security alert

An African-American male in his late 30's tried to apply for credit to buy Rolex watches in a northeast Georgia store using a false idenity. He used the name Charles J. Ward, John Island, SC and had compelte information--apparantly memorized--including social security number, date of birth, address, and telephone number. Store personnel became suspicious and asked for photo identification and were given several excuses why he had none but none could be produced and he left. The real Charles J. Ward was contacted and verified he had not been in the store. The person who came in the store was driving a 2008 pearl white Cadillac Escalade, Georgia license #BEQ 7075 registered to someone in a Atlanta. The police have been notified and are looking for the car. The person is described as mid to late 30's, 5'9-5'10", 170-180 pounds, short cropped hair and closely cropped goatee. He was dressed in a Polo pulloever shirt and nice jeans.

Please be on the lookout for this person and call the police but do not try to detain or apprehend him.

Roof Top Burglars Caught!!! : April 21, 2010

Ten members of the safe burglary gang that has been terrorizing the jewelry industry throughout the Southeast, have been caught; some for the second time. Per the attached article, four have been indicted in Knoxville, TN and according to our information more arrests are forthcoming for other members of this Miami, FL based gang. Law enforcement is hoping to get them all charged under Federal RICO statutes which carry a minimum 30 year sentence. Bond has been set as high as $1,000,000 for some of these men as they previously made bond of $150,000 in 2009.

This gang successfully got into at least three safes in the Atlanta area and one in Athens during the past year. Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company has sent law enforcement officials a very large list of stolen goods, in case there is any recovery and also to help in the prosecution. Following the initial capture of some of these persons in 2009, there has been a subsquent dropoff in safe burglaries in 2010 and hopefully with this recent arrest it will be a permanent change.

Read the full Story

Alert Update: February 1, 2010..........

New information has become available regarding the recent burglary in Cobb County, Thursday, Jan. 14th. We had previously been told that one of the safes was a TRTL 30X6, but we have learned this was not the case. In fact, the safe was instead an unlabeled safe. There have been very few instances in which a TRTL30X6 safe has been defeated. We hope this clarification puts some of our subscribers at ease.

Grab and Run Robbery: February 5, 2010.........

Grab and run robbery at a Metro Atlanta Mall resulted in thousands of dollars in lost merchandise. The robbery occurred just prior to closing, while the store clerks were pulling trays of jewelry from the showcases. Merchandise was left on top of the cases while the employees were away from the immediate area of the showroom and the doors were not properly secured. Two robbers entered the store and grabbed the jewelry in a quick and precise manner before running from the premises. The two robbers made off with merchandise valued at approximately $150,000. Protection and Precaution can help prevent losses like the one described. Never pull merchandise while the doors to the store are unsecured, or any customers are still in the showroom. Never open your doors for business until all merchandise is put up in locked showcases. Additionally, you should never leave the merchandise unattended when the showroom is open to the public. We hope that everyone will use this tragedy as a reason to review your own closing protocol procedures.

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