Crosby-Volmer's D.C. office was mentioned prominently in a Wall Street Journal story titled "Stickups and Burglaries Are on the Rise—at Work." The article said that "office thieves may be hard to detect at first glance. In the past year and a half, intruders got into Crosby-Volmer International Communications LLC's Washington, D.C., office three times during normal business hours." The article also stated:is on the fourth floor of a large building five blocks from the White House. Mr. Volmer says two of the intruders were caught and escorted out by employees who saw them rifling through colleagues' cubicles; one successfully made off with a laptop computer. He suspects the intruders snuck in through the parking garage or a side door by closely following someone with access to those entrances. Mr. Volmer emailed a letter of complaint to the building's owner, Blake Real Estate Inc., in July but says he hasn't seen any signs of increased security. (Offices of The Wall Street Journal are located in the same building.)
"All of these people had on ties and were wearing dress pants," says Robert Volmer, president of the public-relations firm. "People in offices tend to give [strangers] the benefit of the doubt. Whether it's caterers, deliverymen or people who water the plants, there are always news faces coming in and out."
The story, which appeared on Nov. 17, noted that the firm's D.C. office "
"Two months later he says he stopped a person trying to enter a side door and asked what he was doing there. He says the man claimed to be making a delivery but couldn't name a recipient, so he escorted the stranger off the property. Mr. Volmer admits he didn't consider the possibility of the intruder being armed and says he wasn't worried for his safety. "I just went on instinct," he says.
Stephen Lustgarten, Blake Real Estate's executive vice president, is quoted as saying, "The crime in that building would be no higher than any other urban environment in Washington. [Crosby-Volmer employees] left their back door open and unattended which is why they had a problem."
"After receiving the complaint email, Mr. Lustgarten said the company briefed tenants on how to prevent future incidents by reminding them to be prudent, and avoid leaving personal items and entrances unattended. He said the property manager replied to Mr. Volmer's email as well as visited Crosby-Volmer's office, but Mr. Volmer wasn't there so the manager briefed his assistant instead.
"Mr. Volmer says he used to keep the back door to his office suite unlocked during the workday because the building has a security desk at the main entrance on the first floor for greeting visitors. But he's been keeping it locked at all times ever since the intrusions occurred."
In other news, the firm announced a number of promotions including Jennifer Elena and Luke Punzenberger, promoted to vice president; Ashley Dos Santos and Jason Schneider, promoted to account supervisor; Jordan Hassin and Dan Woodley, promoted to senior account executive; and Patrick Moore promoted to director of online media.