By:  Ilana Siyance

New York State governor Kathy Hochul will vow to crack down on retail theft as part of her 2024 policy agenda.  As reported by the NY Post, on Sunday, Gov. Hochul’s office said the governor has heard New York business owners’ plea for help, and will be unveiling a plan to tackle shoplifting during her State of the State address on Tuesday.  Hochul had announced her intent to address retail theft in November, while speaking to the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs’ Association.  “The rise in retail theft [is] something that we’re focused on. We have some announcements for our State of the State coming out on this initiative,” Hochul pledged on Nov. 9.

Ailing New York business owners have been pleading with legislators to find ways to help with the surge in shoplifting that began with the pandemic and which cost New York’s retailers a total of $4.4 billion in 2022 alone.  Merchants blame the progressive bail reform laws for enabling repeat offers to continue wreaking havoc on their businesses.  With re-elections coming up in the Fall for lawmakers representing 213 districts in NYS, many businesses have been increasing their pressure on Hochul and the Democratic-led state Legislature to address theft by setting stiffer penalties against serial offenders.

“We’re going to continue living this nightmare if legislators don’t fix this mess,” said Nelson Eusabio of the National Supermarket Association and part of the coalition Collective Action to Protect Our Stores (CAP).  “We plan on being more active in Albany this year. We’re bringing up shopkeepers from legislators’ districts to get in their faces,” Eusabio said.

Multiple bills were introduced last year, including proposals to increase the severity of certain repeat shopliftings, and to make it possible to keep offenders from being let right back out on the streets with lenient bail laws.  In the end, however, the Legislature passed only one bill– which would create a task force to study the shoplifting issue. That bill got vetoed by Gov. Hochul, who said there were a host of similar “Set up a task force” measures which she didn’t have the money to fund.

The 2024 legislative session will try again to pass bills to help curb shoplifting.  Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz (D-Bronx) said one of his priorities is passing a measure to charge recidivist shoplifters with fourth-degree grand larceny —which is a Class E felony that could be a no-bail offense.  “This has to be a priority as long as our shopkeepers are suffering. We all know shoplifting is a problem,” Dinowitz said.

Also, Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan) and state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal are working to create a new offense for those who foster the sale of stolen goods, making it a class A misdemeanor.  “A person would be guilty of fostering the sale of stolen goods when they host, advertise, or otherwise assist the sale of stolen goods, including on an internet website, and they know or should know that the goods were stolen,” Rosenthal said in her memo promoting the bill.  “Theft of retail products will be considerably less lucrative if the goods cannot be sold under the guise of online marketplaces that otherwise appear reputable,” she noted.  Another proposed bill would up the penalty for assaulting a retail worker from a misdemeanor to a bail-eligible Class D felony, similar to the penalties currently in place for assaulting first responders.