Shoplifting is on the rise

Shoplifting is a big problem and some businesses are taking steps to combat the problem. Businesses have no choice but to protect their business with guards and K-9 dogs to stop shop shoplifters since Albany lawmakers are unwilling to punish repeat ofenders. This is being done by the 34th Street Partnership that includes Macy’s Herald Square, Penn Station and

Madison Square Garden.

Now I have worked in retailing and have seen shoplifting frsthand. In the Seventies I worked for Mays Department stores in Jamaica, Models in East Meadow and Great Eastern Stores in Elmont and as a department manager I saw shoplifters in action and would call security to take action. That was a problem back then but nowhere what it is today.

As reported shoplifting complaints across the city have risen to more than 63,000 in 2022, up 45% over the 2021 level and up almost 275% from the frst decade of the century. Now shoplifters should beware of Fido and the rest of the K-9 units who will fnally take the bite out of crime.

Frederick R. Bedell Jr. Bellerose