Security Procedures for Buy Offices

It is important for both the safety of our estate buyers as well as our buy customers that we maintain excellent security practices and take adequate safety measures in each of our buy offices.

Keys

Each buyer has a master key that opens the doors in all of the buy offices. Each buyer should also have a fob used for accessing the San Diego location, and a key to access the jewelry cases in San Diego. It is imperative that these keys/fobs be kept secured, and not be shared with anyone else. When working during the day, the buyer should keep the key on their person at all times. Not only is this more secure, but it will eliminate being accidentally locked out of the office. Lost keys must be reported to the Controller (Cheryl O’Donnell) immediately. If you attach your loupe to your keys, never let a customer use your loupe to view jewelry, as this is handing over your keys to them. Keep a spare (cheap) loupe on hand for customers to use.

If a buyer leaves employment, he or she will be expected to return all keys and fobs immediately.

Alarm Codes

All buy offices are equipped with alarm systems and buyers must have a code to disarm and arm the system. These codes are confidential and should not be shared with anyone other than other buyers who need access to work in the office. If a buyer leaves employment, his or her alarm code will be deactivated immediately.

When you go to enter your code into the alarm keypad, use your free hand and your body to block the view of the keypad from all angles. Crooks have been known to set up surveillance equipment to try and record alarm codes as they are being keyed into the pad.

Opening the Office

When opening the buy office, always look around to make certain it is safe to go inside. If you see someone suspicious lurking nearby and are not comfortable with opening the office at that time, don’t. Wait for that person to leave the area, or find someone from one of the surrounding offices to go inside with you. Once you enter the office, be sure to lock the door behind you until you are ready to open for business.

If you cannot open on time because a suspicious person is lurking, call the Estate Buying manager in San Diego right away and let him know, or if he is not available then tell the COO. If you can substantiate the suspicious person lurking (for example with a cell phone picture) there will be no incident assigned for opening late.

Safe

You will need to open the safe in the morning to get the checkbook, and to finish processing any buys from the night before. Try to finish the buys before you open the office for the day, so that you can slide them into the inner safe, and close and lock the safe door. The safe should always be locked during the day. Open it again in the evening after you have closed the office so that you can put in the checkbook and the buys from that day. Lock it before going home, being certain to turn the combination knob several times.

Small Safes

Every office is equipped with a smaller pushbutton safe so that you can store your buys during a busy day until you have time to process them. Do not leave buys in this smaller safe overnight; always ensure that they are locked in the main safe before leaving for the night. The safe is small enough to be easily carried away by burglars so it is not for overnight use.

Checkbook

During the day, it is imperative to keep the checkbook out of sight until it is to be used. Once the check has been issued to the buy customer, the checkbook should be stored away immediately. It can be stored in a drawer or under the desk where it is not visible to customers. It should be locked in the safe at night.

Doors

All buy office doors are equipped with electronic door locks so that you can leave the door locked during the day and buzz customers in after getting a look at them. Be aware and don’t buzz in someone who looks like trouble (heavy coat on in hot weather, gang of young men dressed like hoodlums, street person with shopping cart). Consider your personal safety first.

The doors in the small buy offices in San Diego are to remain closed and locked at all times that we are open to the public, including when a buyer is in the office working with customers. Buy office doors are not to be propped open while in use. Open doors provide the opportunity for a customer to walk into our back offices, or at least see and hear what is going on in our back offices.

Buys

It is important to keep all buys out of sight. In some of the busier offices, there is a tendency to set the buy aside before bagging it up, in order to get to the next customer. Take the extra minute to bag up the buy and put it in the small safe before serving the next customer.

Before you leave customers at your desk

Always put away any tools including the diamond tester, gem gauge, loupes, tweezers, gold testing acid, master stones, and anything else of value before you turn your back or walk even a few feet away from your desk. Don’t leave out anything that could be switched or pocketed by a customer. Criminals can switch the gold testing acid for water while a buyer’s back is turned and then try to sell us fake gold. Mark the bottles of acid with “LH” using a silver or bright colored marker so you will see if your acid bottle has been switched.

Leaving the office to greet other customers

In some of the offices such as La Mesa, the buy office is separate from the reception area, making it necessary for the buyer to leave the buy office entirely. Be sure to put away any tools such as the diamond tester, gem gauge, loupes, tweezers, gold testing acid, master stones, and anything else of value. This will prevent any potential theft.

Lunch

If leaving the office for lunch, be sure to secure the buys from that day in the safe. Don’t leave them in a drawer or in the small safe until you get back. Any large silver buys should be secured in the safe (if they fit) or secured somewhere out of sight. The alarm should be set, and all locks on all doors should be secured. Flip the closed sign that shows when you will be returning (make sure it’s set to the correct returning time and not 10:00am).

Closing the office

When it is time to close, be sure to flip or turn off the open/closed sign, before completing any remaining closing activities. Make sure that the “be back at” sign has the correct time (10:00am). If you still have customers after closing, the sign should still be flipped at closing to let any late arriving customers know that the office is closed.

Secure all buys and the checkbook in the safe before leaving. Close any blinds as necessary. Stow anything of value out of sight of any uncovered windows. Be sure to bring in any sandwich-board signs. Before leaving the office look out the window to make certain it is safe to leave. If you see anyone suspicious lurking around, stay inside until they leave. If they don’t leave and you are concerned, call the police. Once it is clear to leave, set the alarm and exit, locking both the door handle and deadbolt locks.

The alarm system will emit an intermittent beep, warning you that you have one minute of time to exit before the system arms. Wait to hear the beeping start before leaving to ensure that the system is armed.

General rules

Use common sense when opening and closing. If you feel uncomfortable for any reason, do not open or do not leave the office. Call someone to help. If you feel uncomfortable with letting someone into the office, don’t. If you are robbed, remain calm and do exactly what you are asked to do, including handing over all of the merchandise. Your safety comes first; everything else can be replaced.

If you feel you are being cased and MAY be robbed

If you feel safe to do so, call San Diego and get Maggie, Robin, Cheryl, or Elliot on the phone. We can look at the cameras in your office and monitor what is happening. Just say RUMPELSTILTSKIN and we will know that you are in a state of alarm. We can contact the police and tell them it is a potential hostage situation so that they can take appropriate measures that do not put you in danger.

In the event of an actual robbery

DO NOTHING unless told to by the robber(s). Be still, keep your eyes down, and do what you are told. We have insurance for robbery so give the robbers whatever they want. Do not talk back or get wise, just do what they say, calmly with no sudden moves. Be quiet, hold still, keep your eyes down, and let them take everything in the office and the safe.

If after they exit you can see what kind of vehicle they leave in, note make, model, and any of the license plate numbers. Once the danger is over, call 911.

Holdup buttons

You have a holdup button that when pushed will summon the police. These are to be pushed only if people are being hurt, if the robbers start shooting, or as soon as the robbers leave. We don’t want the police to arrive while the robbers are still in the buy office unless they are aware that it is a potential hostage situation. If the police simply drive up with sirens wailing, the robbers might use you as hostages to try to get away.

The holdup buttons in the buy offices are located:

• Solana Beach – left underside of buyer’s desk
• La Mesa – left underside of buyer’s desk
• Oceanside – left underside of buyer’s desk

When Bay Alarm comes out to change batteries in the motion sensors, they are supposed to also make sure the panic buttons are working. All they must do is type a code into their digital transponder and it will alert headquarters that there is a test going on so it will not alert the police, but it will show on their screen whether the signal has been sent/ received. They typically must change the batteries once a year, but a test can also be initiated by calling Bay and asking for the test.

Special Halloween Precautions

WE DO NOT ALLOW ENTRANCE INTO ANY LOCATION TO ANYONE WEARING A MASK OR COSTUME THAT COVERS HIS OR HER FACE. SPEAK TO THEM THROUGH THE INTERCOM OR DOOR AND SIMPLY REFUSE TO LET THEM IN UNTIL THEY REMOVE THE MASK OR COSTUME. Be polite but firm. Honest people will have no problem complying.

If we can’t see their face than neither can the security cameras. A criminal may try to take this opportunity to attempt a robbery.

Post signs on the doors of all the buy offices by October 31 that say, “Happy Halloween! For your safety, please remove any mask or costume that may be covering your face before entering our store.”