Joint Public Safety & Veterans and Small Business Committee Meeting on Retail Crime - July 9, 2026
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Joint Public Safety & Veterans and Small Business Committee Meeting
On July 9, 2026, the Westchester County Board of Legislators' Public Safety & Veterans and Small Business committees held a joint discussion meeting focused on retail crime. The meeting was chaired by Legislator David Tubiolo (Public Safety & Veterans) and Legislator James Noelman (Small Business). Guests included Doug Horsting (Metro), Mike Burke (CVS Pharmacies), and Peter Stanga (organized crime investigator for Altus Northeast), along with a representative from Ulta Beauty. Legislators participating included Margaret Cunzaio (remote), Williams, and Woodsida Gundeal. The agenda listed the meeting date as July 8, but the official date per system records is July 9, 2026.
Discussion Items
- Retail crime overview: Guests described retail theft as organized, multi-billion dollar industry, with goods resold online (Amazon, eBay, Facebook Marketplace) or to local bodegas and even other retailers. Mike Burke recounted a U-Haul truck followed from Florida to Queens containing $150,000 in stolen merchandise, and a Manhattan fence operation shut down with $3 million in recovered goods.
- Traveling crews: Peter Stanga noted crews from South America hitting Long Island, Westchester, and Connecticut, and an arrest in Connecticut after a series of store thefts. Ulta Beauty representative described the “three-store triangle” (Hartsdale, Scarsdale, Dobbs Ferry) where repeat offenders impact all three locations.
- Challenges with prosecution: Guests cited lack of cross-communication between municipalities, siloed investigations, and underutilization of the county’s real-time crime center and general investigations unit. They noted that repeat offenders often receive trespass notices, but enforcement varies. Bail reform and “raise the age” were criticized as ineffective, and a case in New Jersey with over $100,000 in theft resulted in drug court disposition with no jail time.
- Proposed solutions: Guests recommended creating a county-level retail theft task force modeled on New York City’s, bringing together major retailers, district attorney’s office, county police, and local law enforcement. They suggested regular coordination calls, centralized contacts, and better data sharing to track repeat offenders across jurisdictions.
- Legislator input: Legislator Williams and Woodsida Gundeal asked about specific activity in Yonkers and the status of technology bonds; guests acknowledged existing systems like LPRs and real-time crime center but noted uneven adoption. Legislator Tubiolo emphasized public safety as foundational and committed to following up with the Department of Public Safety.
Key Outcomes
- Commitment to follow up: Legislators agreed to reach out to the Department of Public Safety, specifically the General Investigations unit, to explore connecting retailers with existing resources.
- Potential task force: Discussions will continue on forming a county-level retail theft task force with all stakeholders.
- Future meetings: Legislators indicated plans to invite county police and potentially the Yonkers police to future discussions on this issue.
- No formal votes: The meeting was purely informational; a motion to adjourn passed.
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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