Gov. Kathy Hochul was joined Tuesday by members of the state Legislature and small business owners from across New York to support a “comprehensive statewide crackdown” on organized retail theft.
Hochul’s anti-theft plan, included in her executive budget proposal, includes $25 million for a dedicated retail theft unit in the state police, $15 million for district attorneys and local law enforcement, and $5 million to cover security costs for businesses. It also includes new legislation to protect retail workers from assault and to crack down on online sales of stolen goods.
“We’ve been successfully working with local law enforcement to drive down gun violence, murders and shootings — now we must take that same approach to curb organized retail theft,” Hochul said in a media release. “It’s time to give police and prosecutors the tools they need to go after retail thieves and back our businesses with the full force of the law. Public safety is my top priority, and I’m committed to keeping customers and workers safe.”
Hochul’s proposals would utilize “proven crime-fighting strategies that have been used to drive down violent crime and gun offenses,” the release said. Investments to combat spiking larceny offenses in the executive budget include:
• Introducing legislation to establish criminal penalties for online marketplaces and third-party sellers that foster the sale of stolen goods and increase criminal penalties for assaulting retail workers.
• Setting up a state police “Smash and Grab” enforcement unit. The executive budget includes $25.2 million in new funding to deploy a dedicated state police team to build cases against organized retail theft rings and create a new enforcement unit dedicated to that purpose.
• $10 million in funding for district attorneys to prosecute property crime cases and deploy dedicated retail theft teams.
• $5 million in additional State funding to build the capacity of local law enforcement efforts to combat retail theft.
• $5 million for a commercial security tax credit to help business owners offset the costs of certain store security measures.