NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey explained that the widespread use of masks is enabling robbers to evade identification by the police through security footage. "We're seeing far too often where 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," Maddrey said.
Maddrey requests business owners to require customers to remove their masks and reveal their faces as a condition of entry, hoping this measure will help the police identify robbers. However, some business owners are concerned that this requirement may put them at risk by potentially provoking confrontations with customers who refuse to remove their masks.
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"We don't have a weapon to defend ourselves," said Francisco Marte, a bodega owner from the Bronx. "That would be great, everyone comes with their face up so the camera can see, we all can see. But we cannot force them to take off the mask." Marte also disclosed that he had been shot three times, and he is currently considering upgrading his store's security by implementing facial recognition software.
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According to WABC-TV, some grocery store customers notice increased crime and have urged officials to take appropriate measures. "They have to try to do something to bring the crime down because it's out of control," said shopper Norma Jean. "I don't remember it being this bold and in your face."
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Some customers feel that asking them to remove their masks will interfere with their right to feel secure. Emmanuel Celestrino, a shopper, explained that he would be "kind of offended because it's my own way of feeling safe, and I got really used to it through the pandemic."
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CAPS, an organization representing thousands of independent grocers throughout New York City, calls on officials to increase punishments for "repeat theft offenders" after they were lessened in a controversial bail reform law in 2019. "We have been assaulted, terrorized, and our physical and mental health jeopardized," the group stated in a letter to the mayor and the governor. "A rise in larceny cases has hit independent supermarkets hard."
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