What the heck is going on?
Am I imagining it? There seems to be one jewelry store burglary after another in Los Angeles and surrounding areas. Chinatown, Laguna Niguel, Thousand Oaks and more. From writing the time this letter was written, another store in Arcadia was burglarized. Too many to mention. Where and when is the next one?
My biggest fear is a break-in into one of our major jewelry buildings in the downtown Los Angeles area at night or over the weekend. Can it happen? Happened in London. Happened in Antwerp. Can it happen here? I believe so!
The security in our diamond buildings is insufficient. I regularly drop off items in the 607 building after hours and am never asked for ID. Quite regularly I see the security guard socializing outside while the main building entrance is unlocked. The same occurs in the adjacent buildings. I believe the Security Staff are insufficiently trained, and in most cases, alone, guarding not only our livelihoods but our lives. It should be mandatory to have 2 guards securing each building at all times (including after hours).
Entry to the 550 building through the freight entrance is simple and unguarded. There is no security watching the freight elevators.
Visit the Library, DWP, Gas Dept Building or any Government office, and you go through a metal detector. Enter with a concealed weapon into a Jewelry Building, with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Diamonds and Jewelry, and nobody would know.
Are we waiting for a major catastrophe before we do something to improve security, or are we going to be proactive?
-Concerned Tenant of 607
