Gov. Hochul pictured Wednesday on the Brooklyn Made in Downtown Brooklyn.
Picture courtesy of Gov. Hochul’s Workplace
Retail theft in New York Metropolis has dropped 13.6% year-over-year, Gov. Kathy Hochul stated Wednesday, because the State Police Organized Retail Theft Process Drive recovered greater than $2.6 million in stolen items since increasing operations in April 2024.
Talking in Downtown Brooklyn on Nov. 19 forward of the vacation buying season, Hochul stated small companies proceed to really feel the results of years of heightened shoplifting and arranged theft. “When I first became governor, there was a spike in retail theft,” Hochul stated. “I walked the streets in Brooklyn and Queens and saw firsthand how it was paralyzing for small businesses.”
Final 12 months, Hochul launched a $40 million bundle of sweeping measures to fight rising retail theft statewide. The initiative created retail-focused anti-theft groups for police, elevated penalties for anybody who assaults retail staff, and established a $5 million tax credit score to assist small companies put money into safety upgrades akin to cameras and theft-prevention units.
The laws adopted years of escalating theft. Crime information present larceny offenses in NYC rose 51% between 2017 and 2023, whereas robberies, grand larceny, and petit larceny collectively elevated 86% throughout the identical interval.
The State Police activity drive, made up of 100 devoted personnel working alongside native legislation enforcement and district attorneys, has performed greater than 1,000 operations within the metropolis and surrounding areas, Hochul stated. These efforts have resulted in 1,224 arrests and a pair of,146 felony expenses during the last 12 months.
State Police Superintendent Steven James stated Wednesday that the decline in theft is encouraging however added that the influence of those crimes extends past monetary losses. “Retail theft inflicts distress on business owners, workers and patrons,” he stated.
Hochul urged New Yorkers to help small companies in the course of the holidays, saying the lower in theft helps retailer homeowners keep afloat amid broader financial uncertainties. “We want people to feel comfortable walking into stores and supporting the real people behind them,” she stated.
