Jewelry crimes fell in 2025, but violence and losses rose

Fewer jewelry crimes hit U.S. firms in 2025, but the ones that did landed harder. The Jewelers’ Security Alliance recorded 1,233 crimes, down 13.2 percent from 1,420 in 2024, yet total losses climbed to $144.7 million, up 1.5 percent from $142.5 million. For independent jewelers, the message was stark: the threat was no longer just volume, but force, planning and speed.

The pressure came most sharply in burglaries. On-premises burglaries produced the largest dollar losses for the second year in a row, even as the number of burglaries fell from 305 in 2024 to 262 in 2025. JSA said highly mobile South American Theft Groups were a major factor, and its report showed the tactics growing more exacting. Rooftop burglaries rose from 15 to 25, wall entry increased from 17.4 percent to 19.1 percent, and roof entry doubled from 4.9 percent to 9.5 percent. For a jewelry store, that changes the whole calculus of design, from what sits above the sales floor to how a back room is sealed and monitored.

Robberies were nearly flat in number, with 218 on-premises robberies in 2025 versus 219 in 2024, but they became more dangerous. Violence was recorded in 27.1 percent of robberies, up from 16.9 percent, and guns were displayed in 23.9 percent, up from 19.6 percent. JSA also recorded 13 incidents in which vehicles were driven into occupied stores during or shortly after business hours, compared with none the year before, and pepper spray use in smash-and-grabs rose to 14 incidents from 3. That is the kind of shift that pushes merchants toward appointment policies, controlled entry, fewer open showcases and layouts that protect staff without making the store feel like a fortress.

The human cost remained the gravest part of the story. JSA recorded two jewelry-related homicides in 2025, down from four in 2024. The victims were Faustino Alamo Dominguez, 63, and his son, Luis Angel Alamo, 25, who were shot outside their Chicago store last November as they chased a robber. Police made an arrest in connection with the murders. JSA executive vice president Scott F. Guginsky said homicides remained the top concern, while president Jennifer Mulvihill called the report an industry standard that loss professionals, law enforcement and jewelry executives rely on through JSA’s weekly crime alerts and real-time text platform. The larger picture was clear: after 2023’s record 1,621 crimes and 2022’s all-time high of 2,211, the danger in 2025 was less about how often jewelers were hit than how much more brutal each hit had become.