Every day, crime affects many parts of our community, but more recently it has threatened something at the heart of our city: our small businesses. To protect individuals and businesses from daily coordinated, repeat crime – and preserve the infectious energy that is driven by the diverse and successful small businesses – we must prioritize our efforts to uphold quality of life, even when it may seem indirectly affected by these crimes.
As a small business owner myself, I understand different levels of stakeholders all the way down to our customer engagement. For one, I know how important small businesses are for the character and success of our communities. But, even more, I know that crime, specifically long-term, well-planned efforts, has a real effect, not only on small business owners, but also on many customers.
The problem with this sort of coordinated crime is simple: individuals have developed a business model that steals large quantities of items from businesses and sells them for profit. Essentially, this sort of criminal activity deceptively blurs the lines between crime and public safety and emerges itself as a deceitful and fraudulent business model. This is not to be confused, however, with historic cases of organized crime. These repeat offenders, or those engaging in coordinated crime, as we may call it, are actively targeting small businesses, knowing they will not face any consequences.
Last month, I had the pleasure of joining former prosecutor Saritha Komatireddy, who is running for New York Attorney General. Saritha spoke at great length about this model and how she will work in Albany to prosecute these criminal businessmen and put safety and money back at the top of many New Yorkers’ priorities.
Beyond a general lack of prioritization of these coordinated crimes in Albany, another major issue is that there are no consequences, and many small businesses lack substantial support and resources to protect themselves from these instances of retail crime. Lawmakers in Albany passed No Cash Bail Reform for most non-violent felonies, mandating release regardless of how many times an individual had been arrested for the same offense. The result is part of the issue at hand: the same people commit coordinated crimes against small businesses and individuals, and small business owners and those involved, including customers, have to deal with the consequences and bear increasing costs in their pockets and to their personal safety. The cycle goes on and on.
As many of us would agree, our elected officials must prioritize hard-working community members and protect their business endeavors. The people committing these devious crimes have built a business model, so it is no longer a one-off crime but a pattern. This pattern puts business owners and customers alike in jeopardy, ultimately posing a grave threat to overall quality of life, without even considering those who, likely accidentally, find themselves at the scene of the crime.
This simply defines my approach to this petty, coordinated crime: I will work to protect all individuals, small business owners and customers alike, to preserve the character of our community and to safeguard against rising prices and quality of life that are certainly collateral damage from these criminal activities. Doing this requires support from our judiciary and legislative representatives to track and condemn this sort of coordinated activity, uphold public safety, and protect quality of life for all.
Tom Sullivan is the Republican Candidate for Assembly District 23.
