Retailers across New York state say there’s no end in sight to the rising epidemic of organized shoplifting rings — and warn it could lead to more store closures, increased costs for consumers and threats of violence against store employees.
Store owners said they lost $4.4 billion last year as a result of retail theft — which they say adds to the urgency for Gov. Kathy Hochul to crack down.
However, Hochul vetoed a bipartisan bill last week — to the chagrin of store owners — that would have created a task force to combat organized theft.
Hochul rejected a proposal that would have created a 15-member panel made up of experts appointed by the governor, Legislature and the state attorney general that would have put together a list of recommendations to respond to retail theft.
The Retail Council of New York State, the Albany-based lobbying group which represents retailers statewide, said it was “extremely disappointed” by Hochul’s veto.
Melissa O’Connor, the president and CEO of the group, released a statement saying that she urged the governor to take “immediate action” so as to formulate “an effective, collaborative response to this problem.”
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“She made it abundantly clear that retail theft prevention will be a priority for her administration, and we look forward to working with her to achieve results,” O’Connor said.
A spokesperson for Hochul said that adopting the proposal would have cost the state $35 million — an expenditure that wasn’t allotted in the most recent budget.
Law enforcement officials from New York City to Albany to Syracuse have reported increases in incidents of retail theft — blaming the spike on progressive prosecutors who encourages criminal behavior with lenient punishment for shoplifters.
Last month, the chief of police in Syracuse said that the city has seen a 55% spike in shoplifting since 2021 — and that’s a conservative estimate.
That number is likely higher because businesses often dont report it — but they do continue to express concerns,” Syracuse Police Chief Joe Cecile said.
Cecile warned that small businesses are “having trouble sustaining themselves” in the face of the shoplifting campaign.
One local pharmacy chain in Syracuse alone suffered losses of more than $250,000 per year due to the epidemic of organized retail theft, Cecile told WSTM-TV last month.
So far this year, the Albany Police Department has fielded 23 calls for larcenies at a single Stewart’s convenience store on Central Avenue — up from 14 at the same time in 2022.
The rash of retail thefts at the location forced the owner to shut down.
“Retail theft at convenience stores throughout the state is not as organized as at some other retailers but is as dangerous and impactful,” Kent Sopris, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores, told The Post.
“My members have reported theft that leaves stores in shambles as criminals seek cigarettes, lottery tickets, and anything they can get their hands on.”
Sopris said that convenience store clerks are “at extreme risk.”
“In fact one store reported a thief threw a pot of coffee at a clerk,” he told The Post, adding that his trade group “stands ready to work with state and local authorities and other business groups to take control of this issue.”
As of Nov. 19, Albany police have arrested nearly 2,300 people for larceny and nearly 340 people have been accused of motor vehicle theft.
That’s well above the five-year average of 2,057 arrests for larceny and 281 for motor vehicle theft.
Shops in the Buffalo area, which have seen a gradual decline in the number of robberies and larcenies by year, have nonetheless pleaded with local police to step up patrols in response to a rash of organized retail thefts.
Stephen Lands, owner of Buffalo Fleece and Outerwear, told WIVB-TV in September that he may need to close his shop due to rampant theft of his merchandise.
In recent months, Lands said he has been robbed 20 times.
The police “usually blame it on bail reform and say they cant arrest them and it would just be an appearance ticket so its not worth coming I guess, Lands said.
Other businesses in the Elmwood Village district of Buffalo have lodged similar complaints.
This is one of the busiest business districts in Buffalo and it seems like theres no police presence,” Lands said. “People walk in and walk out everyday with stuff and it happens to all these stores.
Organized theft isn’t limited to upstate New York.
The Big Apple saw a 64% increase in reported incidents of retail theft during the four-year period between mid-2019 and June of this year, according to the Council on Criminal Justice.
A New York Police Department spokesperson pointed to crime statistics showing that there were more than 93,000 incidents of petty larceny through the end of October which is 29% higher compared to the same period two years ago but 5% lower compared to the same period last year.
Around one-third of all shoplifting arrests in the five boroughs last year involved just 327 people who were collectively arrested and re-arrested a total of more than 6,000 times, according to the NYPD.
These 327 alleged shoplifters targeted 18 department stores and seven chain pharmacy locations, which accounted for 20% of all complaints, the NYPD said.
Astronomers observed a neutron star known as P13 suddenly brighten after years of inactivity. The decade-long study shows how changes in accretion can drive extreme X-ray power, offering new insight into ultraluminous X-ray sources and neutron star physics.
A “hero” pedestrian climbed into the car of Liverpool parade attacker Paul Doyle and stopped him, a court has heard.
Doyle, who used a car as a “weapon” to plough through more than 100 people celebrating Liverpool’s Premier League title win, told officers “I’ve just ruined my family’s life”, the court heard.
The sentencing hearing was told the 54-year-old was “in a rage” and his “anger had completely taken hold of him”.
Doyle is due to be sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty to 31 offences relating to seriously injuring people during the victory parade on 26 May.
Doyle, described as a “family man” by prosecutors, wept as footage of the horrific rampage was shown to the city’s crown court several times on Monday.
Paul Greaney KC, prosecuting, described the actions of Daniel Barr, who he called the “hero” of the day.
Image: Emergency services at the scene. Pic: AP
Mr Barr, an ex-soldier, had “bravely” jumped into the back of Doyle’s Ford Galaxy and placed the vehicle into park.
He was walking up Water Street when he noted the defendant’s Ford Galaxy in the distance, said Mr Greaney, noting the crowd’s attitude changed from “joyous to desperate”.
Doyle’s vehicle then stopped next to Mr Barr “all of a sudden”.
“Daniel Barr instinctively pulled open the rear passenger-side door and climbed in. He did so with the intention of stopping the driver,” the prosecutor said.
Mr Barr leaned forward and moved the gear into “park” and “held it as hard as he could”.
Mr Greaney added: “The Galaxy did not stop immediately, but in the end it did.”
The prosecutor said police officers forced Doyle into a police van after the attack.
This, he said, was done “in the midst of a hostile crowd”, adding that officers’ behaviour was both “brave and effective”.
When Doyle was securely in the van, Mr Greaney said police body-worn camera footage picked up him saying: “I’ve just ruined my family’s life.”
Doyle admitted dangerous driving, affray, 17 charges of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, nine counts of causing GBH with intent, and three counts of wounding with intent last month.
He had previously denied the offences, which relate to 29 victims aged between six months old and 77 years old.
Image: Forensic officers at the scene in Water Street.
Pic: PA
The court was shown dashcam footage taken from the defendant’s car showing the attack.
Mr Greaney warned the court: “What we are about to display on the screens is truly shocking.”
There were audible gasps in the courtroom as the footage played.
Doyle could be heard repeatedly shouting at pedestrians to “move out the f****** way” as he drove through crowds.
Consistently using his vehicle’s horn, people could be seen trying to jump out of the way, with some forced on to the bonnet of the car.
“F****** pr****,” Doyle shouts as the footage continues.
By the end of the footage, people begin to attempt to run up to the vehicle.
When the car stops, one man shouts, “get the f*** out of the car”.
Image: Pic: Reuters
Mr Greaney also detailed some of the injuries sustained by victims on the day of the attack.
One woman, aged 66, spent four nights in hospital after breaking six ribs and suffering fractures to her fingers on her left hand and her left wrist.
Another woman, aged 77 at the time, spent 27 days in hospital.
The prosecutor said she suffered a fractured left forearm, fractured left collar bone, three fractured ribs, a fractured pelvis, a broken nose, as well as multiple abrasions and bruising to her head, knees and back.
Another victim, who was 17, suffered bruising to their legs, shoulder and had a small fracture to their tibia.
After suffering wound infections, it took two months before the victim regained mobility, the prosecutor added.
Victims of parade attack speak of ‘psychological injury’ and ‘flashbacks’
The victims of Paul Doyle’s attack during Liverpool’s Premier League victory parade have spoken of how they have suffered from “emotional and psychological injury” as well as “frequent flashbacks”.
A total of 78 people submitted victim statements to the court, in which they described how the “best day ever” soon became the worst.
Doyle sobbed as the words of one victim, a 12-year-old boy, were read out by prosecutor Philip Astbury at Liverpool Crown Court.
The child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: “I found myself on the floor having been hit by a car I did not see coming, I have never felt so scared before in my life.”
The boy’s mother said in her statement her heart sank when she saw her child inert on the floor.
She said the incident “caused me much anxiety having to watch my son deal with the pain, the frustration, him feeling down and isolated from his friends in school, the nightmares and the after-effects on him”.
The boy’s mother added: “The sight of my son lying motionless on the road, not moving for those few seconds, and the sound of the car hitting people will live with me forever.”
Another mother said she thought her baby son had died after his pram was catapulted into the air after being struck by Doyle’s vehicle, adding that she thought she would “be next”.
Sheree Aldridge, 37, said her partner Dan Eveson had proudly dressed their six-month-old son Teddy Eveson in his Liverpool FC shirt that day and “was excited to share this moment” with him.
She said in the statement: “In that moment I thought I was going to die. I didn’t know where Dan and Teddy was.
“I felt an overwhelming pain in my leg and looked up to see Teddy’s pushchair on its side further up the road. I thought my Teddy was dead.
“I thought I was next. I thought my children would grow up without a mother.”
The court also heard how a third mother, whose 13-year-old son was injured, said she has trouble sleeping due to flashbacks and has visions of her son’s “terrified face”.
Mr Greaney said some people at the scene on 26 May “thought that what was taking place was a terrorist attack”.
However, the prosecution ruled out that the defendant’s actions were “driven by ideology”.
Police investigations showed there was no problem with the vehicle, and Doyle was completely sober and “free of all drugs”, Mr Greaney said.
“The truth is a simple one – Paul Doyle just lost his temper in his desire to get to where he wanted to get to.
“In a rage, he drove into the crowd,” he added.
Doyle was arrested at the scene in Water Street just after 6pm and charged later that week.
The youngest victim was six-month-old Teddy Eveson, whose parents later told media he was thrown about 15ft down the road in his pram when the crash happened.
Doyle, of Croxteth, Liverpool, admitted attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to the baby.
Five other children, whom Doyle either injured or attempted to injure, cannot be named for legal reasons.
Russia is trying to “bully, fearmonger and manipulate” the UK and its allies with attacks under the threshold of all-out war, the new head of MI6 has said.
Blaise Metreweli, the first female chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), said Britain was “operating in a space between peace and war” and that everyone has a responsibility to understand the dangers because “the frontline is everywhere”.
In her first big speech on Monday, she also focused on Vladimir Putin’s devastating war in Ukraine, accusing him of “dragging out negotiations” on a peace deal and warning that Kyiv’s fate is “fundamental not just to European sovereignty and security but to global security”.
Offering her view on the evolution of global security threats, Ms Metreweli underlined the transformative role of technology, from artificial intelligence to quantum computing.
She said control over such advanced technologies is shifting from states to corporations and even individuals, making the balance of global power more “diffuse, more unpredictable”.
The spymaster did not name anyone.
Image: Blaise Metreweli. Pic: PA
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2:12
Is time running out for peace plan?
However, innovators such as Elon Musk are becoming increasingly influential, with their technologies such as his Starlink satellites and his social media site X.
The boss of MI6 was speaking at her agency’s headquarters in London, though she said that the main work of her spies was carried “many miles away from this place – out of sight, hidden from the world, undercover, recruiting and running agents who choose to place their trust in us, sharing secrets to make the UK and the world safer”.
She warned the world was “more dangerous and contested now than it has been for decades”.
The spy chief said: “Conflict is evolving and trust eroding, just as new technologies spur both competition and dependence.
“We are being contested from sea to space – from the battlefield to the boardroom. And even our brains as disinformation manipulates our understanding of each other and ourselves… We are now operating in a space between peace and war.
“This is not a temporary state or a gradual evolution. Our world is being actively remade with profound implications for national and international security.”
Breaking with a tradition by previous chiefs of offering a view on a range of threats when speaking publicly, Ms Metreweli said she was choosing to focus on Russia.
“We all continue to face the menace of an aggressive, expansionist and revisionist Russia, seeking to subjugate Ukraine and harass NATO,” she said.
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10:57
Ukrainian MP: Who will stop Putin?
On the conflict, she said Putin was “dragging out negotiations and shifting the cost of war on to his own population”.
Her comments come as Donald Trump is attempting to broker a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces, told Sky News in an interview earlier this month that he believed Putin was using the US push for negotiations as “cover” while Russian troops attempted to seize more land by force.
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1:35
The Wargame returns with new episodes
The MI6 boss said the UK’s support for Ukraine would endure regardless of Moscow’s stalling actions.
She also flagged a growing wave of “grey zone” hostilities – deliberately carried out under the threshold of conventional armed conflict – that she attributed to Moscow.
“It’s important to understand their [Russia’s] attempts to bully, fearmonger and manipulate because it affects us all,” she said.
“I am talking about cyber attacks on critical infrastructure. Drones buzzing airports and bases. Aggressive activity in our seas, above and below the waves. State-sponsored arson and sabotage. Propaganda and influence operations that crack open and exploit fractures within societies.”
Image: Germany’s President Steinmeier with President Zelenskyy in Berlin on Monday. Pic: Reuters
While she did not specify any particular incidents, there have been a spate of mysterious drone sightings in Denmark, Germany and Sweden; while a Russian spy ship was spotted off the coast of Scotland and acts of arson and sabotage have been carried out in the UK, such as a blaze at a warehouse in east London that was providing aid to Ukraine.
Drawing attention to another method to attack a country and its people, Ms Metreweli underlined how information is being weaponised, with falsehoods spread online that are designed to erode trust in a society and amplify divisions.
“The export of chaos is a feature not a bug in this Russian approach to international engagement and we should be ready for this to continue until Putin is forced to change his calculus,” she said.
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1:38
NATO boss: ‘Conflict is at our door’
MI6, she said, is adapting to respond to the evolving threats.
But unusually Ms Metroweli also said the wider British public had a role to play, such as with schools helping to educate children to spot disinformation on social media and to check sources of news “and be alive to those algorithms that trigger intense reactions like fear”.
She added: “It also means everyone in society really understanding the world we are in – a world where… the frontline is everywhere. Online, on our streets, in our supply chains, in the minds and on the screens of our citizens.”
Building on the success of the highly acclaimed podcast The Wargame, Sky News presents The Wargame: Decoded – a one-off live event that takes you deep inside the minds of the wargame’s participants. Discover how they tackled the toughest challenges, the decisions they made under intense pressure, and even experience key moments of the game for yourself.
Sky News’ Deborah Haynes will guide the conversation with Sir Ben Wallace, Robert Johnson, Jack Straw, Amber Rudd, Keir Giles and General Sir Richard Barrons – real-life military chiefs, former government officials and leading experts. Together, they will unpack their experiences inside The Wargame, revealing the uncertainty, moral dilemmas and real-world pressures faced by those who must make decisions when the nation is under threat.
Join us for this unique event exploring how the UK might respond in a moment of national crisis and get a rare, unfiltered glimpse into how prepared the country truly is for war.