Time is now to fight retail-theft violence

Theft and robbery in retail stores across the United States obviously cry out to be squelched. Beyond the message sent by letting it continue unabated, instances of violence against employees who try to intervene or prevent property loss have driven store employees’ labor unions to take action, demanding protection for their members, notably on the West Coast from Los Angeles to Seattle.

Sensibly, Gov. Kathy Hochul has been pushing this legislative session for a Retail Theft Joint Operation with all levels of law enforcement. Her proposed budget, pending in legislative talks, would use tens of millions of dollars to fund efforts to build cases against organized theft rings, assist DA’s in bringing property-crime cases, and offer a commercial tax credit to help retailers offset losses.

All that seemed well-enough accepted when Hochul outlined it in her State of the State speech in January. But she has also called — justifiably — for deeper penalties for those who commit this destructively visible kind of crime. On that point, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins are balking.

They shouldn’t be so reluctant.

“I just don’t believe raising penalties is ever a deterrent on crime,” Heastie recently told reporters. Interestingly, former Democratic Gov. David A. Paterson has publicly and quite moderately disputed this. “I don’t really understand that. I was kind of surprised he appeared to say this,” Paterson said in an interview on 770 WABC, adding that Heastie jokingly suggested that Paterson was turning Republican.

Voters vexed by these crimes in Heastie’s Bronx district would include small bodega owners and employees as well as employees and customers of big chain outlets. The speaker — who at least signals support for busting the organized rings — says there are alternative ways to address the broader problem. If so, now is the time to give a full vetting to his specific proposals for another way of dealing with the thievery and intimidation.

State Democrats’ reluctance to modify recent changes to a criminal justice system that once over-incarcerated people for low-level offenses is understandable. Not so understandable is their reticence to state the need for public order. That’s what most constituents clearly want, not just those in so-called “conservative” districts.

It’s as if widespread cynicism about the rule of law itself has taken hold. Letting local larcenies slide is, in principle, the same as refusing to probe tax-cheaters. For Hochul it may have taken a punishing election campaign and an escalation of various crimes to reach the right enforcement notes.

The Senate and Assembly have no excuse for waiting and downplaying. If the chambers don’t want to put it in budget bills, they can start holding hearings on stricter penalties and negotiate legislation before leaving town for their election campaigns. Taking responsibility for effective action might help the lawmakers’ own resumes.