Joint Committee Discussion on Retail Crime with Local Retailers - July 8, 2026
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Joint Committee Discussion on Retail Crime with Local Retailers - July 8, 2026
The Small Business Committee (Chair James Nolan) and the Public Safety & Veterans Committee held a joint meeting on July 8, 2026, at approximately 1:12 PM to discuss retail crime in Westchester County. Invited guests included Douglas Horsting of Metro Orca, Mike Burke of CVS Pharmacies, and Peter Stanga of Ultabeauty (Organized Crime Investigation). The discussion focused on organized retail theft, its impact on businesses and employees, and potential county-level responses.
Discussion Items
- Douglas Horsting (Metro Orca) proposed creating a Westchester County retail theft task force modeled on New York City’s, bringing together major retailers, law enforcement, district attorney’s office, and elected officials. He emphasized that a coordinated team could share intelligence, conduct joint undercover operations, and ensure proper charging.
- Mike Burke (CVS) described organized crime operations, including a U-Haul truck followed from Florida to Queens containing $150,000 worth of stolen merchandise, and a fence in Manhattan where $3 million in stolen goods was recovered. He noted that many repeat offenders are drug-addicted or homeless, but organized crews travel across state lines and hit multiple stores in a region.
- Peter Stanga (Ultabeauty) highlighted that his company’s stores in Hartsdale, Scarsdale, and Dobbs Ferry are frequently targeted by the same recidivist offenders. He advocated for wider use of trespass notices, which reduce repeat incidents, and called for a more globalized prosecution approach that tracks offenders across jurisdictions.
- Legislator Williams (not on the joint committees) asked about retail theft activity in Getty Square, Yonkers. Guests confirmed that crews have been observed stealing from CVS and other stores and then selling stolen goods to local bodegas on Broadway.
- Legislator Woodsida Gundeal asked whether the county police’s General Investigations (GI) unit is being utilized and about the status of bond-funded technology systems for sharing arrest data across municipalities. Chair Nolan acknowledged the need to connect retailers with the GI unit and follow up on system implementation.
- Participants discussed the impact of bail reform and judge discretion on repeat offenders, noting that even with charges, many are released quickly and continue stealing.
- Multiple speakers stressed the need for better communication between local police departments, the county police, the district attorney’s office, and retailers to avoid siloed investigations.
Key Outcomes
- Chair James Nolan (Small Business) and the Public Safety & Veterans Committee chair (Legislator Tubia? Actually not named, but chair of public safety was present) committed to follow up with the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, specifically the General Investigations unit, and to explore the creation of a formal retail theft task force.
- The committees will invite county police and the district attorney’s office to future meetings to discuss coordination.
- The meeting was adjourned at 1:55 PM without formal votes, but with a directive to continue discussions and report back.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you, Patricia. I'm an executive officer. This meeting is being recorded and summarized. I'm gonna sort my two. Thank you. Good afternoon, everybody. I am Led Senator James Noelman, the chair of the small business committee. Let's begin today's meeting for Monday. I'm sorry, Wednesday, July 8th, 2026. It is 11 p.m. I'd like to take a short roll call. I am here. Uh majority leader wholesale. Let's uh let's uh whole scene. All right. So is it um I'm all open? Thank you, James. Uh we're opening up public safety and veterans at 1 12 p.m. I am present. Let's say Kunzio, you're present. Present, can you hear me? I can hear you. And we're in care of the members of the committee. And we're gonna start. Uh James, you want to take it? Yeah. So today's meeting is just discussion. Um sorry I missed attendance. I am here, which just uh court. All right, thank you, majority leader. Uh so today's discussion is uh with talking to my uh my friends, our friends, Douglas Horsting and Mike Burke. They are from small businesses in Westchester County. Uh, but they've been very uh very helpful, very informative of different things that they're going through in their businesses and different businesses are going through in uh crime in their stores. Um I feel like this is a discussion to help our small businesses and also public safety to keep people safe, but also help small businesses uh navigate through this issue or what we could do on the government level uh to do better to make sure that we're partners and everything. And um, you know, through you could introduce yourself at record. Definitely appreciate it. Sure. Doug Westing from Metro Organ. Uh Mike Burke from C S Pharmacies. Well, thank you again for joining us. It's uh this is uh an issue that unfortunately we're used to seeing, and uh we're trying to find ways to advocate in the state and then county level, local level, make uh stores safer and also see you guys prosper. Um today's meeting I feel was crucial along with let's say the Tubia. Um so once again, thank you. I really do appreciate it. Sure, I appreciate it, James. So I'll just say this. We appreciate your time and looking forward to some information from your perspectives on the ground. And it's good that we hear and we communicate with our departments at the end of the day, as uh the chair of public safety and veterans. We have of course the department of public safety, and we train the best police officers in the country right here. Also emergency services, uh fire services under that, um, correction, of course, and a few other departments, district attorney.
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