A pile of stunning data has revealed that retail store owners in New York lost a staggering $4.4 billion in 2022 due to organised theft. Shoplifting rings are thriving in the United States plunging the entire retail industry into huge losses with some retailers shutting shop.
New York City has reportedly witnessed the sharpest increase in the number of shoplifting cases reported since before the pandemic. A 64 per cent increase was reported in retail theft incidents from mid-2019 to June this year.
A whopping 93 per cent of grocers in NYC have reportedly been victims of shoplifting this year. Of these, 60 per cent of retailers said that have been burglarized every single day of a week this year.
Even as NYC saw an eight per cent decrease in retail theft cases in the first half of 2023, police claimed that more than 93,000 cases of petty larceny were recorded this year.
Law enforcement officials in New York, Albany and Syracuse have reportedly blamed the spike in theft cases on progressive prosecutors who are often up in arms about the rights of criminals and lobby for lenient punishment for shoplifters.
A bipartisan bill to create a task force to combat organised theft was vetoed by Governor Kathy Hochul on the grounds that it would have cost the government $35 million.
The proposal intended to create a 15-member panel of experts appointed by the Governor, Legislative and the state attorney general to compile recommendations to respond to retail theft.
Albany-based Retail Council of New York State urged the governor to take “immediate action” to form an “effective and collaborative response to the problem”.
Instead, Hochul signed a bill on 16th November that mandates sealing the records of certain past criminal convictions. According to reports, the new law, called the Clean Slate Act, is intended to prevent employment discrimination against individuals who have served their sentences.
According to the Council on Criminal Justice. Los Angeles has reportedly experienced a 61 per cent increase in theft cases in the same time period. But in the first six months of 2023, LA recorded a 109 per cent increase in reported retail theft incidents.
The Chief of Police in Syracuse Police Chief Joe Cecile last week said that the city has seen a rise of 55 per cent in theft since 2021. Cecile added that the number is likely to be higher because many cases go unreported.
Retail theft has impacted local businesses. A local pharmacy chain in Syracuse suffered annual losses of more than $250,000.
From 14 in 2022, the Albany Police recorded 23 calls for larcenies at a single Stewart’s store on Central Avenue which forced the local to shut shop.
“My members have reported theft that leaves stores in shambles as criminals seek cigarettes, lottery tickets, and anything they can get their hands on,” said Kent Sopris, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores.
He added that some convenience stores are more at risk. “In fact, one store reported a thief threw a pot at a clerk.”
The Albany police have arrested nearly 2,300 people for larceny and 340 for motor vehicle theft.
Another retailer from Buffalo, named Stephen Lands, reportedly said that he might have to shut shop; he said he has been robbed 20 times.
According to Lands, the police usually blame these cases on bail reforms. The police “usually blame it on bail reform and say they can’t arrest them and it would just be an appearance ticket so it’s not worth coming I guess,” Lands said.
A third of all shoplifting arrests in NYC last year reportedly involved just 327 people. Collectively, these 327 people were arrested and rearrested more than 6,000 times.
Even as law enforcement and trade groups argue that bail reforms have enabled offenders to avoid jail time, criminal justice reform advocates borderline justify the thefts as an attempt to survive.
The problem has only been compounded by the lack of manpower in the New York Police Force. 3,000 police officers have either retired or resigned in the last three years. This year alone nearly 2,500 cops have departed from the force. More cops are reportedly expected to resign before year’s end.
According to a report, 58 per cent of Americans think the criminal justice system is too soft. This marks a jump of 17 points from 41 per cent in 2020. A survey conducted by Gallup reported that nearly two-thirds of respondents said that America’s crime problem was “extremely” or “very serious” and more than three-quarters said the lawbreaking is getting worse.
