War on shoplifting: New York City seeks to combat retail thefts with crackdown on repeat offenders, and ‘Second Chance’ program

Seeking to stop the “five-finger discount,” Mayor Eric Adams and law enforcement officials rolled out on Wednesday a campaign to combat shoplifting across New York City.

As snatch and grab crimes continue to run rampant, retail thefts are one of the crimes that persistently slip through the grasp of the mayor’s war on crime. Hizzoner is looking to change this by introducing a comprehensive anti-retail theft plan designed to stem the flow of shoplifting. Adams charged that the current state of the thefts have far-reaching consequences.

“It hurts the entire economic stability of the city. It hurts those who are employed there. When a chain store closes down, you lose employment,” Mayor Adams said. “It hurts the individuals who are assaulted, and it just hurts and bottlenecks our entire criminal justice system.”

Adams joined Attorney General Letitia James, NYPD Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark inside of the 125th Street Business Improvement District office in Harlem.

Deputy Mayor Philip Banks. Photo by Dean Moses

The bulk of shoplifters appear to be recidivists. According to Adams, in 2022, 327 repeat offenders were responsible for 30% of the more than 22,000 retail thefts across our city. Last year, that share of shoplifters increased to 44%.

In an effort to fight the trend, Mayor Adams convened a summit comprised of more than 70 stakeholders to collaborate on policies and find creative solutions to address retail theft. Some aspects of this new plan will look to connect people stealing food and other necessities with services.

Dubbed “Second Chance,” non-violent offenders will be able to avoid prosecution or incarceration if they agree to meaningfully engage with services to help address underlying factors that lead to shoplifting. Resource kiosks will also be installed within stores to connect individuals with critical government resources and social services. This will be coupled with an employee support program that will teach workers in de-escalation tactics, anti-theft tools.

On the enforcement side of things, the city will establish 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.

This will be in addition to the creation of a neighborhood retail watch for businesses and the founding of a New York City Organized Retail Theft Task Force, composed of retailers, law enforcement agencies, and other stakeholders to collaborate and respond to retail theft trends.

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. Photo by Dean Moses

“Everyone’s got the right to go into the store with their kids and not worry about whether something’s going to happen in that store,” Queens DA Katz said. “I have a right to make sure that when my son leaves the house and goes 7/11, he is going to come home safe and sound.”

According to Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri there are targeted areas that have been facing the worst of retail theft including: White Plains Road in the Bronx, the 8th Avenue corridor in Manhattan, Canal Street in Manhattan, Queens Boulevard and West 125th Street in Manhattan.

“We realized the issues of retail theft and we moved hundreds of officers into areas where we saw the highest amounts of retail theft,” Chief Lipetri said. “So we realized that the police needed to be out there on foot and around these business districts. And I just want to acknowledge the District Attorney’s offices that are present today. There has never been better coordination, collaboration or prioritization.”

Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri. Photo by Dean Moses

Lipetri added that last year 327 people were arrested almost over 6,000 times for shoplifting; so far in 2023, there have been 250 individuals arrested about 2,500 times for retail theft. Of the individuals arrested this year, 52% are convicted felons.

“Those 250 people, those are the individuals that we feel should have swift and certain consequences when it comes to prosecutions. And we are collaborating with our prosecutors and we are seeing the incarceration increase when it comes to these individuals.”

Additionally, the top businesses being targeted are pharmacies and chain stores. The city has seen in recent years a number of these businesses close up, pushing local residents to travel far and wide just to reach a pharmacy near them.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Photo by Dean Moses

“The same pharmacies that people used to walk two blocks to go to now have to get on a bus because that pharmacy was closed down,” Chief Lipetri said.

This year, the NYPD reports that on the positive side there are 1,000 (about 5%) less complaints; shoplifting arrests are up by 20% (about 1,500 more than last year). Detectives are also said to be clearing more shoplifting cases.

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