Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) signed a dumb law requiring some retailers to install panic buttons for store employees.
But-but-but I keep being told crime is down in America!
But-but-but I keep being told that people like myself are exaggerating the crime that’s destroying Democrat-run cities!
Panic buttons are what happens when stupid voters continue to vote for failure in the form of Democrats.
“[A]mong other things,” reports Reuters, “retailers with 10 or more employees [are required] to adopt a violence prevention plan and maintain records of violent incidents for at least three years.”
“It also requires retailers with 500 or more employees nationwide to install panic buttons in easily accessible locations or provide wearable panic buttons,” the report adds.
Get this: Another option includes “mobile-phone-based alarm devices to alert emergency officials.”
Don’t we already have that in the form of something called 9-1-1? Or is this snazzy new update the equivalent of hitting “9” instead of “9-1-1?”
This solves nothing. Criminals understand that pushing a panic button and dialing 9-1-1 are the same thing. Allow me to explain…
According to this report, “there have been at least 40,900 complaints related to retail theft so far this year” in New York City, which is a 2.7 percent jump over last year. Those 40,900 retail thefts only reflect what has been reported. Because it does no good, many retailers don’t bother wasting time to file a report.
Okay, so New York City has 40,900 retail theft complaints in one year. That is 112 a day. Is this happening because there are no panic buttons? No. Think about this for a moment: These thieves already know everyone carries a cell phone. Therefore, whenever they commit a crime, especially in a retail store, the thieves do not care that everyone can dial 9-1-1 in about a half second. If that reality doesn’t discourage a thief, why would a panic button?
These thieves know two things: 1) the police are not going to show up in time to stop them, and 2) on the off chance they do show up, there will be no serious criminal charges. Right out the revolving door they go.
There are only two ways to stop crime… The first is the Broken Windows method Mayor Rudy Giuliani used to save New York in the 1990s—aggressive policing of quality-of-life crimes like panhandling and loitering. The second is putting convicted criminals in prison. That doesn’t mean you have to put 40,900 people in jail. That’s not how crime works. You imprison a hundred retail thieves and you will likely cut overall retail theft by half or more.
All this panic button nonsense is just a way for New York Democrats to pretend and pose as though they are doing something about crime when they are not.
Democrats want chaos and crime. They want to drive out the middle class. A city or state filled only with poor Americans, illegal aliens, and wealthy elites untouched by their own policies will vote Democrat forever. You can see Democrats deliberately sowing this same chaos for the same reason in places like California, Colorado, and Chicago.
John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.