Retail-theft drop again shows we KNOW how to drive down crime

Good news! Precision policing, tweaks to the law and a renewed commitment to prosecuting recidivists have driven down retail theft by 20% citywide, proving that time-honored public safety strategies work, if New York has the will to use them.

In 2019, Albany effectively legalized shoplifting by setting a thousand-dollar minimum value for felony charges.

Combined with the collapse of proactive policing in the wake of the 2020 George Floyd riots, Gotham saw shoplifting skyrocket 60%, much higher than the national rate.

Shampoo and deodorant got locked behind glass at drugstores, while must-haves like razors and baby formula got cleared out completely.

Brazen thieves walked into stores and calmly took what they wanted, knowing that nothing would happen to them even if they were arrested, so long as they stole less than $1,000 worth of merchandise.

Meanwhile, apologists for crime like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bx.-Queens) blared absurd excuses for organized thievery, claiming people “either need to shoplift some bread or go hungry that night.”

Sure. And impoverished moms were the ones stealing dozens of cans of baby formula that the government gives them for free.

In 2024, Gov. Kathy Hochul got the Legislature to change the law to allow multiple thefts by one person to be combined to reach the $1,000 felony level.

This legal gamechanger made it worthwhile for store owners to report thefts and for cops to pursue the perps, because now they could face consequences.

Tightening up this loophole had a series of positive secondary effects.

Getting busted for stealing means that the crook gets “trespassed” from the store; if he steps inside again, it’s a burglary rap.

Plus, if arrested twice in one week for petit larceny, you get booked into jail and then arraigned in front of a judge.

No more revolving door, no more desk appearance tickets.

Combining that with increased NYPD foot patrols in crime-ridden hot spots, last year’s holiday season saw a 41% drop in retail theft.

In short: Solving public-safety issues is a no-brainer, if leaders have the will to do it.

New York knows how to fight crime, because we have done it before: proactively flood crime zones; target the small number of creeps who commit the most crime; use the tools of law enforcement and the courts to lock up miscreants.

Our system is riddled with loopholes — bail reform, Raise the Age, permissiveness on farebeating — that are begging to be closed.

The decline in retail theft is a model for addressing all kinds of disorder.

Is it too much to ask Mayor Zohran Mamdani to pay attention to what works?