b"SPECIAL FEATUREKennedy, right, poses with former National help wanted ad in the New York Law Journal. JSAs leader, formerEditor-in-Chief Jeweler Lynn Diamond at the JA FBI agent and federal prosecutor James B. White, was retiringNew York show.and the organization was looking for someone to replace him. White interviewed Kennedy for the job, and the coincidenc-es were uncanny.They had gone to the same high school (Fordham Prep), the same college (Fordham University), and the same law school (St Johns). Kennedys two sons were baptized at St. Ignatius Loyola, the parish White attended growing up in Manhattan.White served as secretary of the 24 Karat Club of New York and so has Kennedy, who says he will remain the organizations secretary for at least another year after he retires.Kennedy also was born on the same day as JSA, April 25.So, thats how I got here, he says. It wasnt the jewelry so much; it was the crime aspect and the nonprofit organization aspect that drew me here.When youre at a nonprofit, you get to do a lot of differ-ent things. We dont have a personnel department, we dont have an IT departmentyoure responsible for everything [at a nonprofit]. Its like running a small business, you have totion dropped advisories in the mail once a month detailing various worry about everything. But its fun. Andcrimes perpetrated on jewelers nationwide. it puts you in [the position of] rubbingThese advisories would include maybe elbows all the time with the industry[KENNEDY] MADE THEthree or four images of suspects, Kennedy leadership. Thats what I do. Those areJEWELRY INDUSTRY A SAFERrecalls, mostly artists sketches because not the people I know. PLACE FOR EVERYBODY many jewelers had security cameras or, if White spent a total of 29 years as presi- JEWELERS AND TRAVELINGthey did, the images were so low quality as dent of JSA, starting in the mid-1960s andto be useless.continuing through the early 90s, whenSALESPEOPLE.Today, JSA circulates about 250 pictures Kennedy took over. FORMER JSA BOARD a year of suspects on a weekly basis through When Kennedy retires at the end ofCHAIR ADAM HEYMAN, email alerts that are opened by thousands. 2024, hell have logged only three more yearsOSCAR HEYMAN The organization receives as many as than White in the position but witnessed a100 emails per day from members of the lifetime of advancements in technology thatindustry, asking for advice, reporting suspi-have made sharing information faster andcious activity, or sharing details of a crime.easier, and photos of suspects clearer.You cant even keep up with it, people emailing us all the time, The first few years Kennedy was president of JSA, the organiza- Kennedy says. It would be impossible for me to personally keep up with all of those emails.Technology has changed how JSA disseminates information, making it easier, faster, and more effective, but its not the only reason both the number of crimes perpetrated against the indus-try and dollar losses have declined fairly steadily since the turn of the 21st century. According to JSA data, in 1999, seven years into Kennedy's tenure, dollar losses due to jewelry crimes totaled an infla-tion-adjusted $248.4 million. Ten members of the industry lost their life on job. In 2023, there were 1,621 crimes totaling $133.2 million in losses, and one person was killed on the job. Third-generation jeweler Mark Udell, of London Jewelers, has known Kennedy for 25 years and has served on the JSA board for 12 years. He says JSAs value to the jewelry industry cannot be over-stated, and neither can the importance of the intricate network From left, Kennedy, former JSA President James B. White, andof relationships Kennedy has built with law enforcement Jewelers Mutual agent Bob Lucente at an industry reception agencies nationwide. Udell recounts a conversation he recently had with a detec-Continued on page 5856 RETAILER HALL OF FAME 2024"