Commentary: The Business

Jewelers Helping Jewelers Launches Crime Alert Network

Text platform quickly warns neighbors of potential threats.

Published

2 years ago

January 11, 2023

Aleah Arundale Instore January 2023 Issue

Jewelry crime is out of control, but together we can be one step ahead of the bad guys.

The best way to head off potential theft is to have fast, accurate information about criminals that pose a threat to your store. The answer is JHJ CAN: the Jewelers Helping Jewelers Crime Alert Network. CAN is an alert system where jewelers sign up via zip code to get immediate texts from the victim of any potentially harmful criminal activity within the area. Think of it as a flare that warns your neighbors as fast as possible.

In early November, news of criminal activity, particularly distraction thefts, started popping up all over the Jewelers Helping Jewelers Facebook group. “What can we do?!” I yelled to the industry. Security expert and consultant Greg ‘Dutch’ Holland-Merten had the best idea: If jewelers alert just their five closest neighbors when there is a threat, many crimes can be prevented.

This was enough for me. If we prevent one crime, it will all be worth it. I reached out to Anish Desai of Star Gems Atlanta. Anish built the TextMeChat platform that allows jewelers to market to customers via text. For Anish to pivot to a crime alert text network was easy. The site Anish built is JHJCAN.com. Jewelers can go to

JHJCAN.com and register to get a text alert when there is a crime nearby. Text is the fastest, most effective way to get information. You simply register for which zip codes you want alerts in. The texts come from your fellow jewelers, which makes the system more accurate than if the information came from a third party.

The alert is in a standardized form. Descriptions of the person, their vehicles, and the actions they take when entering the store, along with video footage are entered into the system. This information is recorded and related.

The goal would be to alert others only when there is information that could avert future crime. For example, a man selling fake gold hit 50-plus stores all in the same area of Michigan. If a text alert system had been in place, a picture of this crook would have been sent out, and loss would have been averted.

To support this effort, JHJ also created a separate Facebook page: Jewelers Crime Alert Network. In collaboration with Leo Vincent (who already runs a Missouri crime alert system), we created a new page for the information we want to get out to all jewelers with security tips, footage, news stories and advice such as the best security camera to use and what to do when being cased.

Be a hero. Sign up today at JHJCAN.com

Looking for a Seamless Sale? Call Wilkerson

After almost 60 years in business, Breakiron Jewelers in Erie, Pennsylvania, was closing its doors. And the store’s owner, Linda Breakiron, was ready for it. She had run the store as its sole owner since the beginning of the millennium and was looking forward to a change. Of course, she called Wilkerson. Breakiron talked to other jewelers who had used Wilkerson and was satisfied with their response. “They always had positive feedback,” she recalls. With the sales, marketing and even additional inventory that Wilkerson provided, Breakiron insists she could never have accomplished her going-out-of-business sale without Wilkerson’s help. She’s now ready for the journey ahead, but looking back, she’d be sure to recommend Wilkerson. “They just made the whole process very seamless.”