State Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher recently asserted that shoplifting should be legalized during a news conference outside Manhattan Criminal Court, joining Court Watch NYC and other left-leaning advocates in promoting the idea. The group claimed it monitored 360 arraignments over four days and found more than half involved misdemeanor offenses.

“Most of what we saw were crimes of poverty—people who are stealing things like toothpaste, people who were stealing things like soap,” Gallagher stated, noting that such acts reflect biological needs. “And we are choosing to protect billion-dollar companies, like CVS and Walgreens, over the people who are struggling to get by.”

The Democratic Socialists of America member emphasized her commitment to “treatment—not-jail” punishments for offenders, while downplaying the reality that first-time shoplifting violations rarely result in incarceration. Critics point out that widespread reluctance to enforce such laws has prompted drugstores across the city to lock products in plastic cases.

Gallagher’s remarks sparked immediate backlash online, with advocates arguing that behaviors like subway fare evasion, public urination, and graffiti should similarly avoid criminal prosecution. Former NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce countered that “really, you have to go make those arrests. Otherwise, you’d have chaos on the street.”

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, when first appointed under Mayor Eric Adams, reiterated her department’s mission: “The mission is to keep you safe, to make you feel safe and to improve your quality of life.”