New York Governor Kathy Hochul gave her annual State of the State address this week and surprised some of us by addressing an issue that she previously had seemed determined to ignore. Any shopowner in New York City and many other parts of the state has long been aware that retail theft is out of control, just as it’s become in so many large cities. Shoppers are equally aware that they are finding shops with all of the products locked up or empty shelves, while others have simply shut down. Through it all, Hochul has insisted that things aren’t as bad as you think they are. That changed, as she declared a “war on shoplifting,” declaring that “the chaos must stop!” Welcome to the party, pal, and hopefully this will be a case of better late than never. But what does she plan to actually do about it? (NY Post)

Gov. Kathy Hochul declared war against shoplifting on Tuesday, saying retail thievery in New York has spiraled out of control — with many products in stores under lock and key.

Hochul unveiled a multi-pronged plan to tackle the shoplifting scourge, including boosting penalties for offenders who assault retail workers.

“I say, ‘No More!’ The chaos must stop!,” she said during her 2024 State of the State address delivered in Albany.

The governor’s plan would create a new category of crime to prosecute those who sell stolen goods online and set up a new “smash and grab unit” in the New York State Police Department to prosecute theft rings.

Let’s break down the Governor’s plan into the basic bullet points.

• Create a new category of crime to prosecute those who sell stolen goods online
• A “smash and grab” unit in the State Police Department
• Dedicated funding for DAs to prosecute retail crime
• A joint state, local, and federal retail theft operation
• Crime Analysis Centers to gather data from victimized retailers
• A tax credit for merchants to cover security costs

Rather than dumping cold water all over this proposal, allow me to offer some credit to Governor Hochul for taking this seriously. She has set forth an ambitious plan and parts of it are not all that different from what Los Angeles has been doing with at least some limited success. They too established a specialized task force and began breaking up some of the fencing operations.

The other items on the list all look promising as well. But just as other governors and mayors have learned, a plan like this can’t simply be hammered through by executive fiat. She’s going to require a lot of cooperation to make this work and that is far from assured. No new laws will be passed without the consent of the state legislature which is still controlled by progressive Democrats. Even if new laws are passed and new task forces established, the police can arrest all the people they like but it won’t make a difference if the DAs won’t prosecute the suspects. And New York has some of the worst DAs in the country. Just because she wants to give them more funding doesn’t mean they will use it productively.

The Governor has already addressed the issue of soft-on-crime DAs in the state once. She has the power to remove a DA who refuses to enforce the law but has been reluctant to use it. If she runs into the same problems under this new game plan, she needs to be ready to step up to the plate and start booting some people out of their offices.

If she can put all of those puzzle pieces together, it’s just possible that she could set the state and the Big Apple on a path toward normality. If so, I will be happy to publicly applaud her for it. Heck, I might even consider voting for her. (It’s not like New York is going to elect a Republican any time soon anyway.) In any event, this looks like a tentative step in the right direction. And it’s a badly needed one.