Governor Hochul: “This is real simple. We've had enough with criminals preying on our citizens. We are sick and tired of our citizens feeling they're vulnerable to random crimes on the streets or these sophisticated organized crime rings. And we are coming after you.”
Hochul: “I sat down with leaders who represent the business community. I sat down with bodega owners. I sat down with them and they are tired of feeling like they're not being listened to, and they wanted change. So we heard them. We responded. That's our job. We passed stronger laws. We made sure that we could crack down on organized retail theft. As I mentioned, $40 million. What did that get us? 100 more State Police officers dedicated to what you see here today… This is the first ever joint operation on retail theft. First ever. This is the creative thinking that goes behind effective law enforcement.”
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul and District Attorney Melinda Katz made a public safety announcement.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube and available in TV quality (h.264. mp4) format here. B-ROLL of Stolen Merchandise Available in TV Quality Here and on YouTube here.
AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available here.
PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor’s Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Good morning, and I want to thank all of you for joining us here today, because this is a public awareness moment. We're hoping that the audience that sees what is going on here today will understand how vulnerable they are to fraud, and to possibly purchasing stolen goods. And I want to thank the District Attorney, Melinda Katz. We've worked together for over a decade in pursuit of lifting up the lives of all New Yorkers, particularly here in Queens, but also keeping them safe. My number one priority as Governor is to keep our citizens safe, and also protect our businesses. Our local businesses.
So I want to thank the individuals who are here today. Our District Attorney and Steven James, our Superintendent of State Police. I want to thank you for working so closely with me. When we see a problem, we don't talk about it in Albany. We find a solution, we show up, we give the resources, the personnel whatever they need on the ground to help solve problems. So today, you are witnessing government in action.
We have heard a lot about retail theft and these organized crime rings. It may not seem like a state problem. It is a local government problem, except we have the resources to do more. And I want to thank you for helping us see that and to make sure that you have the men and women who are trained, the professionals, who are making a difference every single day.
Also, we're joined by the Homeland Security Investigation Special Agent in charge, William Walker. You're going to be hearing from him in a couple of minutes. I do this with the support of great legislators. I want to thank my partners in government here, Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Senator Leroy Comrie. Thank you for being here. You are the ones who get this over the finish line, and I'm so grateful for that. Assemblymember Catalina Cruz is here as well. I want to thank her, and I want to thank our new member as well. Thank you for joining us. Congratulations, and all those who've joined us as well that I may not have seen.
Listen, this is going to be real simple. We've had enough with criminals preying on our citizens. We are sick and tired of our citizens feeling they're vulnerable to — whether it's random crimes on the streets or whether it's these sophisticated organized crime rings. And we are coming after you. This is evidence of what cooperation looks like when we in Albany say, “We can do this.” We put $40 million, a huge commitment of resources, behind the effort to eradicate retail theft in the State of New York. Why? Because I sat down with small business owners. I sat down with leaders like Tom Grech and others who represent the business community. I sat down with bodega owners. I sat down with them and they are tired of feeling like they're not being listened to, and they wanted change.
So we heard them. We responded. That's our job. We passed stronger laws. We made sure that we could crack down on organized retail theft. As I mentioned, $40 million. What did that get us? 100 more State Police officers dedicated to what you see here today. And this was primarily a State Police operation working with our locals in the federal government. I want to thank them as well. But this is the first ever joint operation on retail theft. First ever. This is the creative thinking that goes behind effective law enforcement.
We also passed stronger laws to protect our retail workers. I saw enough videos from online store footage of people behind a counter, literally assaulted in an abrasive attack, sometimes in broad daylight. And they're so vulnerable, especially if they're the only person in the store or the gas station where this often happened.
We also wanted to prosecute the criminal middlemen who fence, transport, and resell the stolen items. So as I mentioned, we're here today to talk about results. But there's many more results to come. Now, this office has been so aggressive in pursuing and using the laws that we've given you the power to use. And now the resources.
Again, this is a tremendous accomplishment here today. But this operation, $2 million? Look at this, everyone. This is not a sale for Black Friday. This is what people were trying to put into people's hands that were stolen from legitimate businesses. And that is unfair. Their costs are high enough.
We do not want to put them at a disadvantage and make them lose so much money every single year. And there is a huge cost to that. Billions of dollars are lost every year because of stolen goods. And we're saying, “No longer. We've had enough of this.” So we're going to continue these efforts.
Again, I will talk about State Police, NYPD, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, our Homeland Security investigators and the local governments, our Queens DA's office. Today is a testament to what happens when you have leadership in government that sees a problem, says we must solve it, pull together the Legislature, work closely with them, and deliver the resources here on the ground.
Because, again, we're not taking this anymore. There's more of us than you. We're going to make sure we have the resources to do everything at our disposal to shut you down once and for all. And, because this puts money back in people's pockets, because costs are going up. Costs go up in a store when they have to recover the loss that they don't make on the stolen goods.
Think about that. The families that are struggling, trying to put food on the table — especially as we come to needing a lot of food this Thursday — it's going to be an expensive day for people. Their costs should not be higher because thieves stole goods and had to force the owners of the stores to drive up their costs on the products.
So U.S. businesses roughly lose about $100 billion a year. And again, that gets passed on to consumers. And it's estimated that the average family pays $500 more a year due to the impact of organized retail theft. I want people to feel safe. I want people walking into a bodega, a shop or restaurants — and I want them to feel safe.
Every New Yorker deserves that foundational feeling of security, and we are going to continue doing everything we can to deliver it. People should be able to shop this weekend wherever they're going to start their holiday gift-giving and shopping. Go there with the assurance that you will not be caught in the middle of a crime spree.
And I want people to be able to buy toothpaste without having a store clerk have to unlock it for them. Those days should be over. We're investing the money, investing the resources and delivering the commitment to solve this problem once and for all.
Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart to the hard working men of the DA’s Offices around our state. Law enforcement who get up there every day and do this unseen, unrecognized — but making a real difference. And I'm grateful to every single one of you.
With that, I'd like to introduce my great partner in protecting the people of the state. Our Superintendent of Police, Steven James.