To date there has been no measure to contain the wave of retail thefts in the Big Apple that skyrocketed after the pandemic. Now, this Tuesday the New York authorities announced broader strategies to contain the actions of thieves. These misdeeds in retail stores, They are considered minor crimes, which is why they almost never end in imprisonment.
The Governor Kathy Hochul He reaffirmed that all the State’s police forces will be aligned to stop an entire legion of thieves, mostly repeat offenders, which, according to the view of merchants consulted, tend to multiply.
The strategy will include $25 million to establish a retail theft team, within the New York State Police, $15 million for district attorneys and a $5 million tax credit, which will help small businesses to pay for additional security measures such as guards and cameras.
Also included in the 2025 state budget will be new legislation to protect retail workers from assault and battery. crack down on online sales of stolen goods.
“We have been working successfully with local authorities to reduce gun violence, murders and shootings. “We must now take the same approach to curb organized retail theft.”Governor Hochul reasoned.
Just as measures have been deployed to guarantee security at the Subway, special squads of the State Police will now be created, to investigate organized retail theft rings.
For its part, Nelson Eusebiofounder of the Collective Action to defend NY commerce (CAPS) He recalled that during the height of the pandemic, small merchants were called essential, but it is time to guarantee that they can operate without fear or concern of being robbed.
“We urge the state legislature to stand up for our workers and consumers. This great problem must be faced from every point of view. We consider this progress positive”said the business leader.
According to some official estimates, people walking around the streets of the Big Apple are close to 380 repeat thieves, which constitute 30% of arrests for theft.
“This won’t work either.”
In the opinion of Francisco Marte, spokesperson for the Association of Small Businesses and Wineries of NYC All the actions announced to put more cameras and police have been shown to be “absolutely useless”, while criminals They continue to perceive that minor crimes, such as robberies, do not bring consequences.
“If there is no change in the bail law, It will be throwing that investment away. We winemakers have already said ad nauseam that the great drama, The thing is that thieves are no longer afraid of the police. Because they know that if they are detained, they will be released immediately,” he stressed.
The experience of Mars is that the small merchants of The Bronx, Brooklyn and Upper Manhattan have made individual efforts to install cameras and panic buttons. And that has not deterred criminals from continuing their actions with increasing vigor.
In fact, there are anecdotes of how shoplifters enter stores “waving” to the cameras.
The union leader considers that these resources almost never “go down” to the neighborhoods where the working class lives and finally Only the department stores that remain in tourist areas will benefit.
“Both the governor and Mayor Adams have hit the nail on the head in wanting to change these criminal justice reforms, which obviously encouraged crime. However, they have hit a wall with a group of local and state legislators, who remain focused on siding with criminals,” Mars asserted.
In the specific case of Manhattan County, where department stores, jewelry stores and luxury stores are located, which, as records indicate, continue to frequently receive “visits” from thieves, sources from the New York City Police Department York (NYPD) that operate in midtown areas, They assure El Diario that they have already brought several individuals to justice so far this year, but unfortunately they end up on the streets a few days later.
“We continue to refine our intelligence strategies. Whoever commits a crime is almost always captured with the technological resources we have. The problem is what happens to the criminals afterwards,” said an officer.
The vision of fiscal de Manhattan, Alvin Bragg Jris more optimistic regarding the new battery of measures announced by the state president: “this expansion of resources will add to my office’s efforts to keep New Yorkers safe. So far this year in Manhattan, shootings are down 46.9%, grand robberies are down 13.1%. The number of retail complaints reported in Manhattan in 2023 decreased by 23% compared to 2022.”
In summary: anti-thief action
- $10 million in funds for district attorneys to prosecute property crime cases and deploy dedicated retail theft teams to district attorney (DA) offices.
- $5 million in additional state funding to build the capacity of local law enforcement efforts to combat retail theft.
- $5 million for a Tax Credit for business security to help business owners offset the costs of certain store security measures.
2024-03-13 10:00:00
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