As residents of New York City have found out the hard way, Mayor Eric Adams is not quite the “tough on crime” guy he promised to be in his election campaign, and a new retail theft deterrent program he unveiled last week is further proof of that.
Because it was revealed last month that “nearly a third of all shoplifting arrests in New York City last year involved just 327 people,” the push from the public to do something was on.
In response, Adams held a presser on Wednesday to let people know that he allegedly was already on top of it, with his team noting that back in December his administration had convened a “retail theft summit” where law enforcement officers, business owners, social service liaisons, and reps from the District Attorneys’ offices came together to talk daily about the retail theft epidemic in the city and ways to combat it.
All at the presser, including Adams, his deputy mayor Phillip Banks, New York AG Letitia James, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg talked a big game on repeat offenders and making the city safer, but when it boiled right down to it, what they said was part of their “roadmap” to combating shoplifting and other types of retail theft amounted to more of the same:
[Adams] “And so, the partnership, what we are creating in the city is two new diversion programs to allow non-violent offenders to avoid prosecution or incarceration by helping them address underlying factors like substance abuse or severe mental illness. Some of these cases, in many of our retail shops and owners would tell you, you have people that come in the stores, clearly can’t take care of themselves, going into the stores repeatedly, stealing items, and they’re dealing with real mental health issues. We’re going to also train our workers in de-escalation tactics and security best practices, so that they can know how to address this issue.We’re going to increase enforcement against repeated offenders and organized crime. That’s the partnership we want to develop with our state and local prosecutors. We’re also going to advocate on the state and federal level with additional authentication procedures to prevent the resale of stolen goods. This resale on the social media channels of items that were stolen from stores and now you’re openly selling them on social media, it’s just unacceptable. And we must get help on all levels of government.And we will build on the NYPD’s Operation Safe Shopper by establishing neighborhood retail watches that would allow businesses to share real time intelligence. This is one area we are very excited about. If our businesses are sharing real time intelligence, we can prevent much of these thefts. And there has been an operation that was put in place that has shown promising results and we are excited about continuing that.”
The devil, as they say, is in the details, and the details of this plan should infuriate New Yorkers who have grown frustrated with the city’s response to retail crime:
Among the prevention and intervention strategies included in the plan, the administration will:- Establish two new diversion programs — “Second Chance” and Re-Engaging Store Theft Offenders and Retail Establishments (RESTORE) — to allow non-violent offenders to avoid prosecution or incarceration by meaningfully engaging with services to help address underlying factors that lead to shoplifting.- Install resource kiosks in stores to connect individuals in need to critical government resources and social services.- Launch an employee support program to train retail workers in de-escalation tactics, anti-theft tools, and security best practices to help keep them safe in the event of an emergency and to support employees who have been impacted by thefts.To increase necessary enforcement against repeat shoplifters and deter organized crime rings perpetrating these thefts, the administration will:- Create a Precision Repeat Offender Program (PROP) in which retailers can submit dedicated security incident reports to the NYPD to better identify and track repeat offenders and facilitate stronger prosecutions by the five District Attorneys’ Offices.- Establish a neighborhood retail watch for businesses in close proximity to one another to share real-time intelligence with each other and with law enforcement in the event of a theft. This program builds upon the NYPD’s Operation Safe Shopper initiative created under Mayor Adams’ leadership as Brooklyn borough president to expand video surveillance camera usage among participants.- Advocate at the state and federal level for additional online sale authentication procedures to prevent the resale of stolen goods to build upon the federal Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces (INFORM) for Consumers Act, which goes into effect in June 2023.- Establish a New York City Organized Retail Theft Task Force, comprised of retailers, law enforcement agencies, and other stakeholders to collaborate and respond to retail theft trends.
In essence, retailers will be tasked with sharing more of the burden of keeping track of and handling repeat offenders, first-time “non-violent” offenders will be let off the hook, and social services kiosks will be set up in retail stores to try and deter thieves from committing crimes by letting them know there are social services available to them.
You could not make this stuff up if you tried:
Would be a relief if it was, wouldn’t it?
To watch the full presser with Adams and all the rest – where I should note not a single word was spoken about the rampant problems brought about by woke District Attorneys and New York’s infamous bail reform laws, click below:
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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