Cracking Down on Retail Theft: Governor Hochul Announces New York State Police Organized Retail Theft Task Force Has Recovered More Than $2.6 Million in Stolen Goods

A Total of 1,224 Arrests Involving 2,146 Criminal Charges Made in Connection With 1,006 Operations Statewide

Task Force Composed of 100 Dedicated State Police Personnel, District Attorneys and Local Law Enforcement Agencies

Retail Theft Decreased More Than 13 Percent Year-Over-Year in New York City, Larceny Down 13 Percent Across the Rest of the State

Governor Hochul today announced that the New York State Police Organized Retail Theft Task Force has recovered more than $2.6 million in stolen goods statewide since launching new initiatives to curb retail theft in April 2024. Across 1,006 operations, State Police and local law enforcement partners have made 1,224 arrests and filed 2,146 charges. This concerted, joint effort to tackle the pandemic-era surge in thefts has contributed to a 13.6 percent decrease in retail theft year-over-year in New York City and a 13 percent decrease in larceny outside of New York City from January through June of this year as compared to the same time last year.

“Following the pandemic, New York’s retailers faced a sharp surge in organized retail theft, which is why we invested in law enforcement and strengthened our laws to hold perpetrators accountable, protect workers and support the small business owners who are the backbone of our economy,” Governor Hochul said. “Thanks to the work of the State Police Organized Retail Theft Task Force, our partners in local law enforcement and District Attorneys across the State, we are recovering more stolen goods, making more arrests and seeing positive results.”

Following a post-pandemic spike in reported retail theft in New York City and a statewide surge in reported larcenies, Governor Hochul invested more than $40 million in District Attorneys’ offices, local law enforcement, and retail theft teams within the State Police staffed by 100 dedicated Troopers. She also advanced new initiatives to strengthen laws, hold perpetrators accountable, protect retail workers and support small businesses, including:

• Elevating the assault of a retail worker from a misdemeanor to a felony, ensuring any person who causes physical injury to a retail worker performing their job is subject to enhanced criminal penalties.
• Allowing prosecutors to combine the value of stolen goods when filing larceny charges, and allowing retail goods from different stores to be aggregated for the purposes of reaching a higher larceny threshold when stolen under the same criminal scheme.
• Making it illegal to foster the sale of stolen goods to go after third-party sellers.

• • Securing $5 million to fund tax credits to help small businesses invest in and alleviate the financial burden for added security measures. 

The most recent crime data reported by the New York City Police Department show year-over-year decreases in several crime categories, including a 3 percent decrease in overall crime complaints, 20.5 percent decline in murders, 23.2 percent drop in shooting incidents, and 9.5 percent decrease in robbery.