It Begins… Shoplifting Gangs Close NYC Stores Forever

New York has been losing millions of dollars as a result of retail theft and New York City saw the largest surge in shoplifting since 2019 than any other US city according to a study malls supermarkets discount stores all shutting down because shoplifting here is now so bad it is a $4.4 billion part of the state's economy and it's only getting worse tonight a massive retail theft ring bust in New York leading to 41 people arrested across the country shoplifting and organized retail theft cost retailers an estimated $69 billion a year box after box are removed from the home those Ulta beauty products ending up on an Amazon Digital storefront called the online makeup store at deep discounts more than 80% of retail workers say that they are worried about an active shooter coming into their workplace went back to the early '90s they feel like the law protects them like there are no consequences at a time when retail workers are routinely dealing with armed or violent criminals their State Assembly member is blocking an effort to create stiffer penalties for violent criminals that Target retail workers the sheer volume of stolen goods fills a truck this is just one of several U-Hauls that is full of merchandise suspected to be [Music] stolen so shoplifting is now one of the most profitable businesses in New York but what nobody's talking about is that even though everybody knows shoplifting is a massive problem here it's only going to get worse because State lawmakers just had the chance to increase penalties for retail related crime and they said you know what that's not a good idea we're not going to do that meanwhile every single store from your dollar store to your drug store is a criminals paradise and we've seen Brands like Target close locations and one of the newest malls in New York City which cost over a billion dollars to build is now completely closed all the stores shut down inside over crime all because the city's leaders think punishing criminals will somehow make the problem worse but critics say not punishing shoplifters is why we now have professional shoplifters this is what they do 40 50 60 hours a week proving that Crime Pays in New York unlike anywhere else in the country and critics also say shoplifting is a tax on the poor because every single time something gets stolen it's another reason for retailers to raise prices which hurts the law abiding who don't steal things for a living but to understand the real reasons why shoplifting here is such a problem you've got to understand New York's laws don't just encourage shoplifting no they actually go so far as to protect criminals allowing them to operate in ways that are so blatant and so visible most retailers don't stand a [Music] chance so here we are inside Ulta beauty and stores like this are a massive Target for shoplifters not just here in New York but all across the country a national retail Federation survey of companies identified Los Angeles San Francisco Oakland New York and Seattle as the top major cities hit by retail crime organized rings as opposed to lightning flash Smash and grabs use what are called boosters to steal items that then go to fencers who resell them for cash I think people feel like it's it's hopeless so we know that New York has a $4.4 billion shoplifting economy and in every economy you've got different people doing different things to allow it to get that big and the people stealing from stores like this they're just part of the equation because stealing is only half the battle after they get these products out of the store they got to bring them somewhere and they've got to get help to get them into the hands of customers and behind each person who steals something off a shelf there is an entire network of warehouses and Distributors that help them get these things into the hands of people who think they're legitimately buying them at the bottom of this pyramid you've got the thugs on the street that are stealing and at the top you've got the millionaires who are making bank for example that overpriced product you found online extra cheap yeah that was probably stolen from here and in a city like New York we're stealing under $11,000 worth of stuff is just a misdemeanor this is a recipe for disaster not just here in New York but in every city with lack laws that don't punish criminals prosecutors say the alleged ring leader Ronnie rubinov directed teams to go after specific items to steal and alleged rubenoff even signed a lease on a warehouse in New York with plans to open a department store like facility stocked with stolen goods now organized retail theft that's just one type of the shoplifting that goes on in New York City and because of the internet operations like this can thrive in ways they used to not be able to and when the online store runs low on inventory they put out the call to their thugs to go get more stuff and criminals essentially have shopping lists of the items they're supposed to bring back and what's crazy is every time a customer buys a stolen product from Ulta on Amazon Amazon directly benefits but the store here has to take the hit which brings up the scary possibility that a company like Amazon doesn't really care about physical retail theft it's not their problem and we often hear from lawmakers that oh people are just trying to feed themselves in their families but how in the world is that the case when you've got shopping lists warehouses and online marketplaces and it's almost like many of the lawmakers that defend criminals want you to think that if you obey the law in this country you're going to starve a massive retail theft ring bust in New York leading to 41 people arrested authorities say it went much further than just Petty shoplifting our investigators wow that's crazy so a year ago $3.8 Million worth of stolen stuff right here in New York and since then Mega theft operations have been popping up all over the country and we're not talking about Aladdin stealing bread to survive we're talking about full-blown businesses with inventory lists warehouse distribution and packing facilities all made possible by soft on crime policies that don't punish anyone for doing anything wrong and think about it if you can steal whatever you want in New York under 1,000 bucks that's like having a get out of jail free card and criminals know it and because of inflation in the internet you've got hard-hit consumers just out there looking for a good deal these are well-meaning people buying this stuff and half of America probably has no idea that when they make an online purchase they're supporting organized crime and the question no one wants to answer is could armies of criminal thrive in New York if they were all in jail probably not but it isn't just stores with high value physical products that are in trouble No in fact even places that sell perishable items like food are in danger of shutting [Music] down so here we are at the local supermarket but because food is perishable in nature operations that want to lift from these places are a little bit different than an online theft ring you kind of sell it within three blocks of the store otherwise it melt the other uh uh with the laundromat they go to the local laundromat and they sell them the Tide soap and they sell them the uh the soap that's available so I never knew why detergent was such a popular item to steal but now it makes a lot of sense even the most unsophisticated of criminals can take something from a store like this and then turn it around into instant money at the nearest laundromat because New York most departments don't have laundry in them people are all using laundr meds even we use one sometimes when our tiny little machine gets overloaded after a trip but it's crazy to imagine that even food items are in Jeopardy and apparently when people steal something like ice cream they run it to the nearest Bodega and try to offload it so guys we'll go in there with a garbage bag load it up with all the hog andas in the place run to the nearest Bodega unload it at the bodega they have to move very very quickly because obviously the clock is ticking cuz the ice cream could melt now this so what's fascinating about this is that if you own a bodega you may have set it up near a local supermarket to benefit from the foot traffic from that but now criminals are showing up saying hey you want to buy 30 of these and a big black trash bag right now they all still have the supermarket tags and labels and stuff on them and if your storees losing money because of the high cost to operate in New York you could turn things around by buying things at insanely low prices which gives us just another example of how crime in New York pays even for the people who don't do the stealing this particular guy was kind of crafty he came up with a technique where they would Mark the bottoms of all the hogendas so when they get stolen they would go to the bodegas in the neighborhood find the hogendas and then tell the guys listen if you do this again we're going to get you locked up it apparently served to these hog andos are in a Target not a graes they may or may not have some sort of special marking on them but marking ice cream is exactly what they did at GES another local grocer here and because the ice cream was marked they could track down the bodegas that were supporting these criminals and tell them hey look if you keep this up we're going to press charges and the sad reality is is that if New York won't lock up its criminals businesses essentially have to go to war with each other over this but critics say either way needy New Yorkers are those who lose because think about it like this any effort a store goes to to lock up its items or to track them down after they get stolen all of that costs time it costs money and that raises prices which is a tax on your law-abiding citizens who don't steal and what that essentially does is it makes the poor part of the very system that is destroying their lives professional shoplifters that are wiping out the stores in New York wiping out the drug stories we have taken a position so the CEO knows he knows these aren't people that are stealing to try and feed themselves he knows that these are the professionals everybody knows and this brings up a recent memory I have trying to buy basic items at a grocery store oddly they were all sold out for some reason but when I walked into my local Bodega their shelves were full for some reason now does that indicate crime absolutely not but it was an interesting coincidence he knows somebody who was getting a haircut in the Bronx and a guy came into the hair cutting place basically was taking orders for stuff he would steal from the supermarket and bring to them you know it's almost like an so it sounds like instead of Amazon fresh or guer or any of these delivery services you have Criminal shoplifters Who will go and get you every single thing you want on the shelf that is absolutely wild and it means criminals in New York fear absolutely nothing and what's crazy about that is New York City recently had an opportunity to increase penalties on those who steal but of course the idea to do that was shot down which means crime is just going to keep going straight up [Music] top leaders in Albany shutting down a plan that would have imposed tougher penalties on criminals who attack retail workers I just don't believe raising penalties is ever a deterrent on crime there's already things in current law to uh deal with people who assault so he's right there are laws and penalties already on the books the only problem that nobody wants to admit is that they aren't exactly working are they and the question we've got to be asking ourselves is what does deter crime if penalties don't after all punishing crime seems to be working out pretty well in El Salvador and with all of the assistance you can get in America if you're in need we essentially already have Universal basic income which is what some people say we need to stop crime and what that essentially means is it's hard to connect the dots between poverty and theft in this country because to the generous safety net and this is a safety net that includes more than just things like food assistance we're also talking things like healthc care man you can't buy anything at this Macy's it's all behind some sort of bike lock and on top of that all of this crime is just hurting the very people who need help with a safety net the most and this essentially means that theft is something all of society pays for whether you shop at Macy's or not because every time it happens the safety net needed for people to survive has to go up to go up along with Rising prices it's just a vicious cycle he says they are robbed on a regular basis and fearful of doing anything about it are you concerned sometimes for your safety absolutely for my safety employment safety I'm see uh Deja Vu right we're back to the early 90s and when you think about it a store like Macy's they can afford to put security tags on all their stuff this costs money to take off because it costs time and you have to pay people to work but there's no way a mom and pop Bodega or even a little independently owned clothing store could put cables and locks on every single product in the store and not expect the convenience that they offer Shoppers which is the only reason people shop there in the first place not to deteriorate and think of how much store related theft goes completely unreported they feel like the law protects them like they are no consequences uh totally unbolded so now they they they take it an extra step now they they want to fight us they constantly it's often a battle so probably the most insane thing about this bill that was blocked is it wasn't trying to criminalize shoplifting below $1,000 no it was still going to let that happen it just wanted to punish the people who fight and injure retail store employees criminals could still steal to their heart's content but if they attack the cashier then there's a problem and this having zero support what does that tell you about people who make the laws here they don't even want to protect people who make minimum wage sure there are laws here to protect them from their greedy employers but to protect them from a criminal oh no absolutely not those criminals we need to protect them I don't believe in the history of increasing penalties has that ever been the reason why crime has gone down at the heart of this disconnect is Speaker Hy's claim that those who want harsher penalties just want to see people in jail longer whereas retail workers we talk to say they just want those who would prey on them to think twice that's the debate is it not we can either have one of two different societies according to our leaders we can either live in a place where everyone is in jail for no reason or we can live in a place where the rest of society subsidizes crime and where we blame evil businesses for all of the crime because they're the ones charging too much never mind the high prices are partially due to all of the things that get stolen that no one pays for but there's another component working behind the scenes that makes all of this worse and that has to do with the fact that every time a place like this Macy's gets ripped off Amazon benefits if the goods are resold there is that right or should Amazon be doing more to crack down on Stolen stuff being sold on their site some people certainly think [Music] so how we going do you guys have a problem with shoplifters do you ever have people try to steal stuff yeah lot that sucks not even these guys are safe in this town of it was being sold on Amazon for over a decade are online marketplaces a bigger part of this problem well I'd say it's a big part of the challenge that we face is that there has grown over the last several years an ease of distribution of stolen goods you used to have to Stell so because of the Internet it's possible for anybody with an internet connection to have an online business and this has been great for helping people have jobs and make a living but when those livings are being stolen from physical shops it just seems like an unfair situation that should have some sort of check and balance built into it now I get it it's not Amazon's fault when Urban Outfitters gets looted and if police would punish criminals your local brick and mortar stores they wouldn't be struggling like they are today having to constantly raise prices and higher security but it's not just Amazon it's Facebook it's eBay it's every single online realtor who allows an unbedded person to just start selling whatever they Happ and have a grandmother selling a a power saw from Home Depot brand new in the box sure but when there's nothing left to steal in a store thieves that Target a FedEx truck will become even more common or things will get so bad that Amazon no longer delivers your products you have to go to the store and pick up the products you bought online and carry the Box home yourself won't that make things so much more convenient for all of us and this has people asking at what point are cities like New York going to start doing the right thing because buying off the criminals doesn't seem like it's working and if that's not working we're headed for a very terrifying very expensive future but is it even possible for online retailers to shut down these organized theft Rings now interesting counterfeit products on Amazon are such a problem they had to roll out this transparency service and this is essentially a way for a manufacturer to put item level codes on every single item they make so for example if Nike makes a sneaker and they make a thousand of them you'll have codes 1 through a thousand and if an item is sold and it has a code above that or no code Amazon will know its counterfeit and will block it could they expand this system to also cover stolen products for example if a bunch of North Face jackets get stolen from Macy's maybe they could be but it doesn't make much sense for Amazon to roll out such a system when every sale on their website they make money off of and it hurts their competitors are online retailers destroying America or would criminals being kept in jail put a stop to all this nonsense and is a company as big and massive as Amazon even in a position where they could put a dent in retail crime if they wanted let me know thanks for watching I'll see you in the next video

Channel: Cash Jordan

Views: 2,224,994

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Id: GZ-sA69hPo0

Length: 16min 25sec (985 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 16 2024