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Interview: Joe Griffo agrees with Governor Hochul over need to crack down on retail crimes

Published on March 01, 2024

Griffo Joe

ALBANY, NY- In February, Governor Kathy Hochul highlighted one of her major State of the State proposals to fight retail theft, as larceny offenses continue to rise, especially in New York City. 

“Public safety is my top priority, and I won't rest until every New Yorker feels safe on our streets, subways and storefronts,” Governor Hochul said.

“Over the past three years we've made incredible progress on driving down violent crime and fighting the scourge of gun violence. Now, we're using those same strategies to take on the quality-of-life issues like retail theft and property crime.”

Listen to our latest on-air coverage for more details:

As the legislative session marches on, Senator Joe Griffo agrees with the Governor for cracking down on retail theft. "There has to be a consequence to these types of retail crimes that are being committed, like shoplifting and things similar," Griffo told us. 

Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget includes a plan to fight retail theft and property crime, including by launching a Retail Theft Joint Operation with all levels of law enforcement.

The Joint Operation would coordinate a unified law enforcement response, modeled on the successful Interstate Task Force On Illegal Guns. The plan also includes:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. $10 million in funding for DAs to prosecute property crime cases and deploy dedicated Retail Theft Teams in District Attorney (DA) Offices.
  4. $5 million in additional State funding to build the capacity of local law enforcement efforts to combat retail theft.
  5. $5 million for a Commercial Security Tax Credit to help business owners offset the costs of certain store security measures.

Governor Hochul's FY25 efforts to fight property crime build on her existing efforts to protect public safety and fight crime.

Senator Joe Griffo image.

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