It's time to clamp down on retail theft
Shop owners and mega retail stores, who keep some items locked, as seen above, say they’ve been victimized by thieves, often acting in groups. Credit: AP/Bebeto Matthews
The rash of retail theft that emerged during the COVID-19 epidemic — and has lingered since then like a costly headache for store owners and customers alike — underlines the importance of dealing with small crimes as well as major felonies.
Many local shop owners and mega retail stores say they’ve been victimized by thieves, often acting in groups with seeming impunity. Usually, they are young people who brazenly pilfer items with the expectation that they won’t be caught, and if caught, won't be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
This alarming trend in so-called “smash and grab” property crimes undermines everyday business, forcing some merchants to close their doors or take extraordinary security to guard their merchandise. It can also put hardworking store employees at pharmacies, groceries and convenience stores in danger along with their customers if confronted by these thieves.
Overall, crime rates in New York State have gone down in recent months, especially gun violence. Shootings, for example, are down by more than a third statewide in the past year. But property crimes have risen steadily. Statewide, larceny has climbed by 3% each year since the pandemic. And it has spiked in New York City, up 12% in the first six months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, according to the most recent criminal justice data.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat widely criticized by Republicans during recent elections for not doing enough about crime, has now proposed a $40 million strategy for dealing with shoplifting and retail crime as a major problem. Her proposed legislation increases criminal penalties for those who assault retail workers. It creates a commercial tax credit to defray the costs to store owners of adding security measures. It also establishes new sanctions for those caught selling stolen merchandise in online marketplaces and with third-party sellers, curbing the economic incentive for such retail crimes. Those measures can only help and the legislature should embrace the plan.
Significantly, New York will create a State Police “Smash and Grab Enforcement” unit to go after organized retail theft rings, with crime analysis centers to gather intelligence from victimized store owners that will aid future prosecutions. Shoplifting cost retailers as much as $4.4 billion in 2022, estimated The Retail Council of New York State, and in the end we all pay for it.
These increased efforts must give us more data about the extent of this problem and a better idea of how to combat it. How many of these “smash and grab” offenders escape prosecution? How many are first-time youthful offenders who might need intervention and diversion measures to get on the right track? But organized gangs should be hit hard. Ignoring “small” crimes invariably opens the door to bigger ones.
MEMBERS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD are experienced journalists who offer reasoned opinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.
