Hoping to curb New York’s ever-worsening retail crime challenges, state lawmakers last week passed a bill requiring many retailers to install panic buttons in their stores.

This may sound logical, and it was undoubtedly well-intentioned. But the truth is that it’s a costly mandate that will do little to reduce retail thefts and other crimes and is only likely to create new headaches for state law enforcement officers. Gov. Kathy Hochul should veto this bill — or, at the very least, demand that the Legislature amend it — and instead focus on real solutions for cracking down on retail crime.

No one questions an employee’s right to feel safe in their workplace. In theory, a bill forcing retailers to add numerous panic buttons throughout their stores would help achieve this goal. But the bill that now awaits action by the governor ignores two important realities.

First, adding a slew of new panic buttons in stores will almost undoubtedly trigger far more false alarms than actual alerts of crimes in progress. This will send already-strained local police forces — many of which are facing unprecedented labor shortages — on wild goose chases to stores where an employee either misinterpreted a situation or inadvertently tripped an alarm.

In other cases, police may rush to a shoplifting scene only to find out either that a store owner does not want to press charges, or the alleged perpetrator has already escaped — with their stolen merchandise in hand. Panic button alerts are also far less useful to law enforcement responders than a 911 call, because a panic button alert would provide no additional details about the possible crime in progress.

Second, panic buttons do nothing to address the real problems that are driving up rates of retail crime. At the top of that list are the high rates of recidivism among those who are caught shoplifting. A recent study by the New York City Police Department found that 327 people were responsible for 30 percent of shoplifting arrests in the city in 2022 — an average of 20 arrests each. These criminals already know that they will face almost zero consequences even if they are arrested for shoplifting. Why would a panic button deter them?

Instead of focusing on panic buttons, state leaders must take action to stop these repeat offenders. This includes empowering prosecutors to charge shoplifters with felonies after repeat offenses. Lawmakers must also revisit bail reform so that repeat offenders can be held in jail rather than sent back on the streets to continue victimizing retailers and customers.

Hochul was on the right track toward taking a stand against retail crime back in April, when she secured $45 million in the state budget to form a retail crime task force led by law enforcement. The budget also made it a felony to assault retail workers — a recognition that stronger penalties are needed when it comes to curbing retail crime.

Hochul also ushered in the concept of retail theft aggregation that permits prosecutors to combine the value of stolen goods when they file larceny charges. This allows property taken from different retail stores to be aggregated to reach a higher larceny threshold, which means persistent shoplifters can be charged with felony-level crimes.

Now, we need state lawmakers to take that same approach to those who are so brazenly targeting just about any type of retail establishment — from big chains to independently owned groceries and bodegas.

The bill awaiting Hochul’s signature will not make retail employees safer and will only serve to undermine her work to find real solutions to the problems facing retailers across the state. The governor should veto this bill outright, and work with law enforcement to give them resources they need to do their jobs and curb this growing scourge in New York.

Richmond County District Attorney Michael E. McMahon is president of the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, or DAASNY, Delaware County Sheriff Craig DuMond is president of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association, or NYSA.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY panic button mandate must be vetoed by Gov. Kathy Hochul