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Thieves are targeting an Upper West Side store — but an NYPD official said the retailer doesn’t seem to care.
The Target at Columbus Avenue and 98th Street was the location for a quarter of all shoplifting complaints — 69 of the 272 — filed in the 24th Precinct this year, according to NYPD figures provided to The Post.
But Deputy Inspector Naoki Yaguchi, the commander of the precinct which covers 86th Street to Cathedral Parkway, said at a recent public meeting that the retailer was taking an odd approach to the crime spree.
“They don’t call us when it happens. They call us hours after the incident, sometimes days after the incident. It doesn’t give us a chance to try and catch the person who did it,” Yaguchi said, according to a report. “In 17 years on the job, I’ve never encountered a situation where the company essentially refuses to call us. But they’re okay with calling us days later to make a report that satisfies some insurance requirements that they have.”
Petty larcenies, which include shoplifting, have exploded in the precinct this year, jumping 114 percent through March 20 to 409, compared to 191 during the same period last year.
Hilary Butler, 47, who was shopping at the Target on Wednesday, said she understood why it may be difficult to confront shoplifters.
“I’ve seen people report shoplifting and then they get attacked. It doesn’t pay to do the right thing anymore,” she said. “Everyone is so quick to say, ‘Well, you should’ve jumped in,’ but it’s very easy to be noble and high and mighty when you’re not the one faced with it.”
William Jones, 26, wasn’t surprised when he heard about the rampant shoplifting at Target.
“It doesn’t seem like it’d be very hard to get away with,” he said. “You know, you just walk in, self-check out is right there and the store is pretty busy.”
NYPD officers were seen stationed for several hours in Target’s street-level entrance at least one day this week. The store is located below ground.
An NYPD spokeswoman said the department would “continue to work with individuals at Target to address the ongoing condition.”
Target denied that it was only reporting crime because of an insurance requirement.
The company acknowledged that shoplifting was a wide problem and that, in October, its Manhattan stores began limiting their hours because of it, opening from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. instead of 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
A spokesman said additional security staff had been added to the Columbus Avenue store, including undercover guards.
“While we don’t share crime data, our security teams contact law enforcement for immediate assistance whenever a guest or team member’s safety is in question or if a situation is disrupting our business. We also report instances of organized retail theft activity to law enforcement when we become aware of them,” said spokesman Brian Harper-Tibaldo.
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