Democrats’ next crime fight: retail theft

By NICK REISMAN

Originally published in Politico: Democrats’ next crime fight: retail theft on .

ALBANY, New York — Democrats want to talk tough on crime in an election year. Their target — shoplifting.

Successfully pursuing retail theft could rob the GOP of a winning message on criminal justice and give Democrats a national roadmap for addressing the issue.

“It’s a perception because it’s happening right in front of their face,” state Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, a Democrat who represents heavily Republican Staten Island, said in an interview. “You walk into a store and everything is locked up.”

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