Broome County District Attorney Steve Cornwell spent part of this week giving business and retail owner’s new ideas to help protect against retail theft. One quarter of the District Attorney’s misdemeanor caseload are petit larcenies — mostly retail theft. Cornwell says those fuel and fund the drug trade. The DA’s office plans to share intelligence with retailers and be more aggressive prosecuting repeated shoplifters on both the misdemeanor and felonies front. Cornwell encourages pressing charges because he says it will force drug users into treatment, which will not only reduce thefts, but get people the help they need, and perhaps curtail the drug epidemic. He said petit larcenies normally lead into larger robberies and more serious larceny cases so it is important to end the cycle.
