“That’s all we are trying to do — empower the store owners, the storekeepers, so they can play a role that we are going to do as police officers,” he said.
Jeffrey Maddrey, the Police Department’s chief of department, echoed the call for shoppers to drop their masks during a news conference outside Daona, the deli in the Bronx where the employee was killed on Friday. His name has not been released.
Chief Maddrey said New Yorkers should think of dropping their masks as “a peace offering” and “a sign of safety for store workers.”
“When we walk in, we should take down our masks,” the chief said. “We should let them know that they’re not in any danger, any harm, that we’re customers, we’re here to help them.”
But as a crime prevention strategy, he acknowledged it might have shortcomings.
A store that keeps its door locked and admits shoppers via a buzzer is better able to enforce a mask-off rule, he said, while a store that keeps its doors open has less control.
Nevertheless, the idea has been embraced by the United Bodegas of America Association, an umbrella group for the corner stores that are ubiquitous across the city.
Fernando Mateo, a representative of the association, attended the news conference at Daona wearing a hospital mask, a beanie and a hood so that only his eyes were visible.
“This is what we’re talking about,” he said. “This is what we don’t want.”
“We’re talking about all those people who hoodie up, that cover their entire face so that the Police Department cannot identify them when they commit a crime,” he added. “These criminals have gotten so comfortable that they’re doing it repeatedly, and things get out of hand and people are killed.”
Hurubie Meko, Brittany Kriegstein and Emma G. Fitzsimmons contributed reporting.
Liam Stack
Source link