Posted on 04/16/2023 4:59:10 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
When you read about crime in NYC, sometimes you get that feeling that half the city’s residents are criminals and tens of thousands of people routinely break the law. In the case of shoplifting, however, a very small number of cheats are actually to blame for an amazing percentage of the crime—in fact, 327 individuals are responsible for over a third of such thefts and have been arrested an outrageous 6,000 times.
The New York Times reports:
Nearly a third of all shoplifting arrests in New York City last year involved just 327 people, the police said. Collectively, they were arrested and rearrested more than 6,000 times, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said. Some engage in shoplifting as a trade, while others are driven by addiction or mental illness; the police did not identify the 327 people in the analysis.
Not only do a small number of robbers account for such a huge percentage, but they also tend to target a relatively small number of stores:
The victims are also concentrated: 18 department stores and seven chain pharmacy locations accounted for 20 percent of all complaints, the police said.
The situation is using up a “perpetual carousel of police resources,” Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell admitted at a recent news conference.
We regularly see stories of big-box retailers getting hit by smash-and-grab robberies, as well as videos of folks brazenly walking out of pharmacies with carts full of “free” merchandise—but owners of smaller stores and bodegas are scared too. Times Square deli owner Youssef Mubarez describes what small proprietors are facing when they open their doors:
“Every day, they’re going into work as they usually do and they’re not sure if the person walking in is there to rob them, going to steal from their store or start an issue where it just escalates to a point where they can’t control it,” he said.
The problem is not unique to the Big Apple. CVS, Walgreens, Starbucks, WalMart, and now a brand-new San Franciso Whole Foods have all closed locations across the nation in the last few years at least partly because of rampant theft and crime.
When shoplifting no longer a crime (like in NYC) businesses R destroyed. Recidivism nonstop w/no bail. Homeless doing drugs in bathrooms & cops can’t arrest. @LatriceWalker wants this 4 NYC! @NYCCouncil ⭐️⭐️SF Whole Foods Market Closing
@JulieMenin https://t.co/PUr41bDYF8— katie wright (@katiewr31413491) April 11, 2023
But what’s causing it? Naturally the Do-Gooder crowd sides with the criminals:
Shoplifting is a crime of poverty, said Arielle Reid, supervising attorney of the Decarceration Project at the Legal Aid Society, New York’s largest provider of criminal and civil services for indigent clients. It can’t be solved by a continued reliance on “the heavy hand of law enforcement,” she said.
She’s wrong—it absolutely can be controlled by law enforcement and effective policy. The truth is actually quite simple: if you allow people to break the law without consequence, people will take advantage. It’s not rocket science.
Rep. @JamesComer on the House hearing in NYC:
“We have [far-left] district attorneys and prosecutors who are focusing on things to enhance their political career as opposed to trying to put real criminals behind the bars for shoplifting, for murder, for rape, for carjacking.” pic.twitter.com/ATKTkgQqya
— GOP (@GOP) April 11, 2023
The insane “defund the police” movement, the lowering of many crimes in some states from felonies to misdemeanors, and the removal of cash bail requirements have turned the justice system in many blue cities into revolving doors of criminality. Arrest the shoplifter, let him out a few hours later, and watch as he meanders back to Walgreens to grab some supplies.
And no, it’s not anti-Semitic to point out that leftist financier George Soros backs many of the soft-on-crime, criminal-loving district attorneys that are continually freeing criminals across our country. He absolutely is.
It’s been baffling to me to watch Democrats enact legislation that is ruining our greatest cities, and it’s been equally confusing that voters haven’t made them pay a higher price for it. I can only hope that will change as people watch their metropolises continue to degrade into further anarchy.
WATCH: Shoplifting mob openly looting and stealing products under garbage bags at the Ulta in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/Tz5u9fja5L
— Personal Blog Media News (@pbmnews) September 27, 2021
See also:
Unrepentant: George Soros Vows to Continue Backing Woke Prosecutors Despite the Lives They’ve Ruined
Lawless LA: Insane Video Shows Flash Mob Raiding 7-Eleven
I think thievery is one of the very few instances that I agree with Muslim law.
The usual suspects. You could fit them all on a boat, then sink it.
And let lose again. Meanwhile that evil doer Trump .....
Yeah, me too.
Discriminating Reparations.
We have crime because we tolerate crime.
Shoplifting is a crime of poverty
No, its a crime. You solve it by locking people up, not for a short time, but for long enough that honest people outside can breathe free without being robbed.
that’s nothing...535 people have racked up $31 TRILLION in debt and have stolen who knows how much.
LOL....let the thieves break into her house.
Undocumented reparations.
Believe it or not there are other ways to get out of poverty, like working.
I’m working on a plan that may resolve the issue. NY could deport their repeat criminals to Chicago. Atlanta, Philly, and other blue cities could do the same. That way, the repeat criminal thugs could all live in the same area. We could send all the Soros prosecutors to Chicago as well. There, they can repeatedly fulfill their dreams of releasing criminals no matter the charge.
Warning signs could be posted on all access roads to the city (good places for lucrative firearms stores) so that people would have the option to turn back if they don’t want to take the chance. Then, nation-wide any criminal with more than 5 arrests could have the options of deportation to Chicago or life in prison.
Pay-per-view cameras via drones could be placed high above the cities in numerous locations so viewers could pay to watch their favorite criminal’s daily habits. Those funds could be used to man the check-points surrounding the city to keep the thugs from escaping.
There has to be merit to the above plan. I’ll just have to iron out the details.
Is fat Alvin getting a 10 percent cut when the stolen items are fenced?
Easy solution. Catapult.
This is where I’m willing to find common ground with the left.
Institute Sharia (islamic) law in certain ‘problem’ areas for specific offenses like theft where the punishment is public amputation of the offending hand.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
