The hosts of Fox News' The Five mocked New York mayor Eric Adams' absurd proposal to solve rampant shoplifting with in-store "kiosks" that connect criminals with social services.
Just a few hundred shoplifters are responsible for a disproportionate share of retail thefts in the city, making its reluctance to confront the issue even more confounding.
“Another idea, judge [Jeanine], but you could arrest them. Why are we giving a kiosk to 327 shoplifters?” host Dana Perino quipped.
Adams rolled out the "kiosks" idea as part of his multi-part "plan" for stopping retail theft, which skyrocketed 44 percent in 2022.
Rather than prosecute lawbreakers, the city persists in treating criminals like victims who just need help, co-host Jeanine Pirro said.
“The whole idea that you try to hook a thief up with a kiosk so they can get social services is beyond," she said. "First of all, who said stealing is an addiction? Stealing is a decision that you make because you want money or you want to sell it to somebody else."
The hosts also ripped calls for a "retail neighborhood watch" and "de-escalation training" for retail workers, saying the proposals pressure civilians to put themselves in danger -- and on the wrong side of the law.
The city's top prosecutor, Alvin Bragg, has made people fearful to defend themselves, co-host Kennedy noted.
"In Alvin Bragg's New York, anyone who defends themselves, or defends his store, or other shoppers, they are the ones who are going to be in the system," she said.
It's hard to imagine many civilians are jumping to be Good Samaritans after the chilling arrest of Daniel Penny, the former Marine who intervened to protect subway riders from a violent homeless man, Jordan Neely.
Pirro noted that Neely was on a list of most troubled homeless people, but the city did nothing. Adams has defended the "kiosk" idea by saying it will help the city track serial shoplifters.
"This is all talk, no action and you're putting civilians in danger," Pirro said.
The left's "blame everyone but the criminals" philosophy continues to victimize innocent people, like the poor woman who was paralyzed after being shoved into a subway train last weekend.
