Mayor Eric Adams hosted a summit with law enforcement and business leaders Friday to brainstorm on how to stop the surge in retail theft across the Big Apple.
The two-hour conference at Gracie Mansion covered new potential uses for tech in the fight, best practices for surveillance and bolstering existing law enforcement partnerships, the mayor’s office said in a press release.
The idea session, aimed at creating a “citywide strategic prevention plan,” was attended by the city’s five district attorneys, state Attorney General Letitia James, NYPD officials and reps from more than two dozen local business groups and a handful of major retailers, such as Target and Starbucks.
“Our retail stores have my commitment that we will continue to work towards real, long-lasting solutions on the issue of retail theft,” Adams said in a release. “The vast participation at today’s summit sends a clear and unified message that will not allow anyone to simply walk away with impunity when they take something without paying for it.”
Sources told The Post Adams gave his speech and then ducked out of his summit after about 20 minutes.
The full rundown of what was discussed was not immediately known and it was not clear what, if any, plan was forged.
Retail theft has continued to terrorize businesses in New York City this year.
Through September, the latest figures available, cops already had more than 47,000 reports of minor and major thefts from stores.
That’s nearly 10,000 more than all of 2019, when just under 38,000 reports for petit and grand larceny from retailers were recorded, NYPD data shows.
Among the attendees was controversial Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who has been criticized for not cracking down hard enough on crimes like theft.
“Today’s discussion between various stakeholders — retail stores, union leaders, Business Improvement District leaders, the NYPD, City Hall, treatment providers, prosecutors, and legislators — was collaborative and productive,” he said, according to the press release.