In the years immediately following the pandemic, retail theft became a business-busting, job-killing plague in New York. Professional shoplifters used the five-finger discount more effectively than they had in years, grabbing whatever they could get their hands on and selling the hot commodities online for profit. The city and state fought back not by sending in armed troops, but with common-sense solutions.
About two in five people who are currently incarcerated have a history of mental illness, a rate twice as high as the national average, but data reveals that prison is designed for punishment, not care.
"How do we reduce re-offending? How do we deal with people's drug addiction, mental health problems, the fact that people leave prison they don't know where to live, people don't have a job?"
