Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday was joined by members of the Legislature and small business owners from across New York to support a comprehensive statewide crackdown on organized retail theft. Governor Hochul’s anti-theft plan, included in her FY25 Executive Budget proposal, includes $25 million for a dedicated retail theft unit in the New York State Police, $15 million for District Attorneys and local law enforcement, and $5 million to cover security costs for businesses. It also includes new legislation to protect retail workers from assault and to crack down on online sales of stolen goods.
“We’ve been successfully working with local law enforcement to drive down gun violence, murders and shootings – now we must take that same approach to curb organized retail theft,” Governor Hochul said. “It’s time to give police and prosecutors the tools they need to go after retail thieves and back our businesses with the full force of the law. Public safety is my top priority, and I’m committed to keeping customers and workers safe.”
Governor Hochul’s proposals would utilize proven crime-fighting strategies that have been used to drive down violent crime and gun offenses since Governor Hochul took office in 2021. Investments to combat spiking larceny offenses in the FY 2025 Executive Budget include:
- Introducing legislation to establish criminal penalties for online marketplaces and third-party sellers that foster the sale of stolen goods and increase criminal penalties for assaulting retail workers.
- Setting up a New York State Police Smash and Grab Enforcement Unit. The Executive Budget includes $25.2 million in new funding to deploy a dedicated State Police team to build cases against organized retail theft rings and create a new State Police enforcement unit dedicated to this purpose.
- $10 million in funding for DAs to prosecute property crime cases and deploy dedicated Retail Theft Teams in District Attorney (DA) Offices.
- $5 million in additional State funding to build the capacity of local law enforcement efforts to combat retail theft.
- $5 million for a Commercial Security Tax Credit to help business owners offset the costs of certain store security measures.
