Some of the busiest commercial districts in New York City are taking a unique approach to sniffing out the spiraling retail crime in the Big Apple.
According to the New York Post, the 34th Street Partnership — a trade group which oversees the neighborhood that includes Macy's Herald Square, Penn Station, and Madison Square Garden — has hired K-9 units to patrol retail stores in the area, as a means of halting theft and deterring other potential crimes.
"We've had a lot of complaints. A lot of shoplifting occurs in drug stores," said Kevin Ward, the vice president of security for the 34th Street Partnership and former chief of staff to former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton. "We're trying to address the issue.”
In one district, according to the Post, Stapleton Security Services — a firm led by a retired veteran of the NYPD's Emergency Service Unit — three K-9 units accompanied by handlers are stationed in the vestibule of a store, and outside. The dogs also work in shifts.
The "crime-fighting dogs include Drako, a Czechoslovakian shepherd; Emirs, a Belgian malinois, and Del, a primary German shepherd."
Drug stores and pharmacies have been a routine target for retail theft, the Post reports.
And Ward, a former police officer, believes the increased shoplifting complains and soft enforcement of New York state's crime laws has put retailers in a position of peril.
As such, retailers such as the CVS along Eighth Avenue and 34th Street have embraced the K-9 patrol dogs working on the company's behalf.
"We decided to have a very visible deterrent," said Ward, who estimates the K-9 program cost being in the "low five figures monthly."
Ward continued: The program has been "effective so far. We've had a couple of people who were known shoplifters who saw the dog and walked out without stealing anything."
According to the 34th Street Partnership, covering the five-day period of Feb. 15-19, the K-9 units prevented approximately 25 retail thefts.
The Post reports that retail theft in New York City surged by more than 63,000 complaints last year — a 45% jump from the previous year.
Thefts of merchandise under $1,000 drives the majority of retail thefts in the city, according to police statistics. From 2021 to 2022, the incidents of small-scale theft increased by roughly 37%.
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