Hoping to curb New York’s growing retail crime challenges, state lawmakers last week passed a bill that requires many retailers to install panic buttons in their stores.
This may seem logical and was undoubtedly well-intentioned. But the truth is that it is an expensive mandate that will do little to reduce retail theft and other crimes and will likely only create new headaches for state law enforcement officials. Governor Kathy Hochul should veto this bill – or at least demand that the Legislature amend it – and instead focus on real solutions to crack down on retail crime.
No one questions an employee’s right to feel safe in their workplace. In theory, a bill that would require retailers to add multiple panic buttons in their stores would help achieve this goal. But the bill now awaiting action from the governor ignores two important realities.
Firstly, the addition of a series of new panic buttons in stores will almost undoubtedly trigger many more false alarms than actual alerts of crimes in progress. This will send already overstretched local police forces – many of whom face unprecedented labor shortage – in futile searches for stores where an employee misinterpreted a situation or inadvertently raised an alarm.
In other cases, police may rush to the scene of a theft only to discover that the store owner does not want to press charges or that the alleged perpetrator has already escaped – with the stolen merchandise in hand. Panic button alerts are also much less useful to law enforcement than a call to 911 because a panic button alert would not provide additional details about the possible crime in progress.
Second, panic buttons do nothing to address the real problems that are driving up retail crime rates. At the top of that list are the high recidivism rates among those caught shoplifting. A recent study by the New York City Police Department found that 327 people were responsible for 30% of shoplifting arrests in the city in 2022 – an average of 20 arrests each. These criminals already know that they will face almost zero consequences even if they are arrested for shoplifting. Why would a panic button stop them?
Instead of focusing on panic buttons, state leaders should take steps to stop these repeat offenders. This includes empowering prosecutors to charge shoplifters with crimes after repeat offenses. Lawmakers should also revisit bail reform so that repeat offenders can be kept in prison instead of being sent back onto the streets to continue victimizing retailers and customers.
Hochul was on track to take a stand against retail crime in April when he secured $45 million in the state budget to form a law enforcement-led retail crime task force. The budget also made it a crime to assault retail workers – a recognition that tougher penalties are needed when it comes to reducing crime in the retail trade.
Hochul also introduced the concept of retail theft aggregation that allows prosecutors to combine the value of stolen goods when bringing theft charges. This allows goods taken from different retail stores to be aggregated to achieve a higher theft threshold, meaning persistent thieves can be charged with serious crimes.
Now, we need state lawmakers to take the same approach to those who so blatantly target virtually any type of retail establishment – from large chains to independently owned grocery stores and bodegas.
The bill awaiting Hochul’s signature will not make retail employees safer and will only serve to undermine his work to find real solutions to the problems facing retailers across the state. The governor should immediately veto this bill and work with law enforcement to provide them with the resources they need to do their jobs and curb this growing scourge in New York.
Richmond County District Attorney Michael E. McMahon is president of the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, or DAASNY, Delaware County Sheriff Craig DuMond is president of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association , or NYSA.
This article originally appeared in the Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY panic button mandate expected to be vetoed by Governor Kathy Hochul
