Governor Kathy Hochul stood with business leaders and District Attorneys to call for essential changes to New York’s discovery laws that would amend reforms passed in 2019 and serve as another tool to combat retail theft. The Governor’s latest push builds on her efforts to establish new protections against organized retail theft that were signed into law with the FY25 Enacted Budget as part of her five-point plan to combat these crimes.
“Retail theft threatens public safety and drives costs up for all New Yorkers,” Governor Hochul said. “I have been clear since day one: I won’t stop fighting to pass a State Budget that prioritizes affordability and key public safety measures. We cannot allow loopholes in our discovery laws to harm the progress we have made in combating organized retail theft and I remain committed to advancing key changes to discovery laws to hold perpetrators accountable.”
In 2024, Governor Hochul signed into law a key component of her five-point plan to fight organized retail theft. These protections included more than $40 million for dedicated retail theft teams within State Police, District Attorneys’ offices and local law enforcement dedicated to fighting organized retail theft. The plan also provides a $5 million tax credit to help small businesses invest in added security measures, such as cameras, and increases criminal penalties for anyone who assaults a retail worker by elevating it from a misdemeanor to felony.
Without changes to New York State’s discovery laws, efforts to stymie organized theft and drive down crime across the state will fall short of their intended goals. In New York City, the number of larceny dismissals doubled from 3,385 in 2019 to 7,168 in 2024. In 2024, 25 percent of all larceny arrests in New York City were dismissed, up significantly from 14 percent in 2019.
