Queens DA, NYPD using new tactic to stop repeat shoplifters terrorizing NYC shopsBy Craig McCarthy
August 15, 2023
Shoplifters in Queens may now also get slapped with trespassing notices as part of a new law enforcement initiative that aims to crack down on repeat offenders terrorizing local businesses.
The “innovative” initiative — dubbed the Merchants Business Improvement Program — allows business owners to get restraining orders against suspects who repeatedly come into their stores and steal or harass workers, officials said Tuesday.
“With the high rate of retail theft we are seeing throughout the city, it is absolutely essential that we keep fighting back,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in statement announcing the borough-wide expansion of the pilot program.
“We are not going to allow a small group of individuals to terrorize shop keepers, their employees and customers and to disrupt our local economy,” Katz said, adding, “We will not allow that to happen, because when our local businesses thrive, our communities thrive.”
Shoplifting has surged in the Big Apple over the last few years — with businesses in Queens being hit particularly hard.
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“The challenge is it’s a crime driven by recidivism,” he said. “This year, 350 unique people account for 30% of all our shoplifting arrests.”
The pilot program launched in June 2021 in three NYPD precincts in Jamaica, Flushing and Astoria, with a total 142 stores signing up.
Since then, 83 sticky-fingered suspects were formally told they’d be arrested for trespassing if they returned to a store — five of whom were then busted for violating the orders of protection, the DA’s office said.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/08/15/cops-prosecutors-using-new-tactic-to-stop-nyc-shoplifters/
