(NewsNation) — Nearly all grocers — 93% — in New York City say they have been victims of shoplifting this year.
Of those, 60% said they’ve been burglarized every single day of the week in 2023, according to the results of a September survey by members of the National Supermarkets Association shared with The New York Post.
Although the survey states that 72% of supermarket owners have beefed up security measures, those who spoke to The Post said they still feel like their stores are being targeted.
“We’ve implemented a security company, we all have walkie-talkies, but we still get hit with shoplifting, sometimes two, three … seven shoplifters (a day,)” Frank Pimentel, who owns a SuperFresh supermarket in Mott Haven and a Food Universe in Melrose, told the newspaper.
Stores throughout New York state lost $4.4 billion due to retail theft in the last year, according to Capitol One Shopping Research.
This comes as the mayor of New York City recently announced plans to freeze the hiring of new police officers through 2025.
About 3,000 NYC police officers have either retired or resigned in the last three years — and this year, close to 2,500 have already departed from the force, according to data analyzed by The New York Post. More are expected to turn in their badges before 2023 ends, meaning more officers potentially working longer hours on a regular basis to make up for the gap in manpower.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently told all city agencies to expect a 5% cut in funding. Adams has pointed to resources being strained as the city continues to see an influx of migrants coming in as the reason for these cuts.