According to a new report, New York City’s COVID masking guidance is emboldening robbers across the city. The New York Police Department is now recommending that businesses have customers remove their COVID masks and identify themselves to help deter potential thieves. Police say that the city’s masking guidelines have made it nearly impossible to identify criminals in video surveillance footage.
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“People are coming up to our businesses, sometimes with masks, sometimes masks, hoods, and latex gloves, and they’re being allowed, they’re being buzzed in and allowed to enter the store, and we have a robbery,” NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said during a press conference last week as reported by Fox Business.
His comments were reported by Fox Business.
“We are asking the businesses to make this a condition of entry, that people, when they come in, they show their face, they should identify themselves,” the department chief added.
While New Yorkers have been masking to protect against COVID for three years now, Maddrey noted that before the pandemic, no business would have taken the risk of allowing a masked customer in their store.
“We need our businesses to be proactive and do their due diligence. We need to make sure people are identifying themselves,” Maddrey told reporters.
While police hope to tamp down on theft under the new recommendation, business owners say they are still left in a difficult position. Bronx bodega owner Francisco Marte says that asking customers to remove their masks could pose a risk of its own and invite potential confrontation. Many New Yorkers continue to wear masks out of fear of infection with COVID-19.
“That would be great if everyone come with their face up so the camera can see, we all can see. But we cannot force them to take off their mask,” Marte said in an interview with WABC. According to the report, Marte is no stranger to dealing with New York’s criminal element and has been shot three times.
The bodega owner says he plans to install facial recognition software in his video surveillance system.
According to WABC’s report, customers are also worried about the surge in theft.
“They have to try to do something to try to bring the crime down because it’s out of control,” grocery store patron Norma Jean told the network. “I don’t remember it being this bold and in your face.”
Despite experiencing a decrease in shootings and murders since 2021, New York City continues to suffer a surge in robberies, burglaries, felony assaults, and grand theft. According to a Fox Business report, those crimes have increased by 22 percent over the past two years.
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On Feb. 22, a major store heist was caught on camera, drawing attention to the city’s ongoing struggle with thieves. The group of four pistol-whipped a 79-year-old woman and stole around $1.1 million in jewelry. Police revealed at a subsequent press briefing that eleven other NYC jewelry store robberies had occurred this year.
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