Steer Clear of Brad Lander’s Crime Tactics: A Cynical Leftist Deceiving Voters for the Mayor’s Office

City Comptroller and mayoral contender Brad Lander is suddenly alarmed about the crime wave he played a role in creating.

He proposes that retailers such as Duane Reade utilize a surveillance camera system to report shoplifters to law enforcement, which Lander believes could reduce theft enough to allow access to the toothpaste.

Isn’t this discriminatory? We thought Lander and his associates viewed shoplifting as a crime stemming from poverty—doesn’t that implicate prosecuting systemic issues?

Why on earth would he want to report it to the oh-so-dreaded, authoritarian police?

Ah, yes: Because he’s eager to become mayor.

Even Lander—slow to catch on—has finally recognized that New Yorkers are fed up with crime and chaos.

Don’t be fooled.

This is the same individual who has been deceiving the public about the impact of the disastrous no-bail law (along with other so-called “reforms”) for years.

Take, for instance, his widely-publicized assertion that only 1% of individuals arrested for violent felonies reoffend after being released on their own recognizance: A deeper dive into the data reveals that in reality, two-thirds—yes, two-thirds!—of those released in the suburbs and upstate with prior arrests were rearrested within two years.

Since recidivism is mainly driven by repeat offenders, it’s no surprise that Lander’s favored policies have led to significant increases in all categories of crime in the city since 2019.

Moreover, his late pivot to advocating for “public safety” is still hollow: Mere cameras won’t safeguard the toothpaste—New York requires a justice system that consistently holds perpetrators accountable with real consequences, and Lander isn’t calling for that.

The silver lining for New York is that Lander’s campaign for mayor is barely moving forward, akin to the other progressive candidates’: The electorate is tired of this rhetoric.

Consequently, this particular arrogant hypocrite might have just talked himself out of a future in local politics.