NEW YORK CITY, NY - Amidst a wave of violence in the Big Apple, bodega owners are taking a new approach to steer criminals away - panic buttons.
For months, deli and bodega owners in the city have faced rashes of violent crime in their businesses. Now, they are taking a stand for themselves.
The New York Post reported that through the partnership with SaferWatch, a digital security company, a pilot program has been launched using “alert gizmos” in hopes of securing state funds that are supposed to be allocated to small business security.
“We need help today, not tomorrow,” Fernando Mateo said in a statement on Wednesday. Mateo serves as the spokesman for United Bodegas of America (UBA). “Panic buttons that can notify numerous people in real time will save lives and deter criminals,” he added.
“We believe that everyone who works or visits a bodega deserves to feel safe, and this new program helps us accomplish that. We are installing SaferWatch technology because it can make the difference between life and death,” Mateo concluded.
While the UBA did not disclose the number of bodegas that would be participating in the program, SaferWatch CEO Geno Roefaro said that “the panic button system is already in use at countless government and other public buildings in the country.
“This specific platform saves lives and uses technology that engages directly with 911 in new ways and methods. When the UBA called me I wanted to help. I love New York City and its diverse and special bodegas,” Roefaro stated.
In April a 29-year-old was shot and killed at a bodega in the Bronx when the individual was hit by a stray bullet amidst an armed heist. A 40-year-old male was killed at a Queens Boulevard bodega when he was stabbed to death after attempting to choke a clerk over beer in May.
And just this past Saturday, a bodega worker in the Bronx was “slammed from behind with a sledgehammer” over a $30 hookah that a couple wanted their money back for. That worker, Oralia Perez is recovering at St. Barnabas Hospital. Just hours after her injury, a man was killed at a convenience store in Queens when he ran inside to attempt to flee from his assailant.
Governor Kathy Hochul attempted to address the issue in May when she passed protections intending to assist small business owners and retail workers on the frontline to combat theft. The protections include a tax credit for $5 million to use for added security measures.
Unsatisfied with Gov. Hochul’s new protections, the union has said that “lip service [is] not enough.”
In a statement on Wednesday, UBA President Radahmes Rodriguez said, “It’s time for action. It’s time for everyone who has ever walked by a bodega or shopped in a bodega to support us.”
For months, deli and bodega owners in the city have faced rashes of violent crime in their businesses. Now, they are taking a stand for themselves.
The New York Post reported that through the partnership with SaferWatch, a digital security company, a pilot program has been launched using “alert gizmos” in hopes of securing state funds that are supposed to be allocated to small business security.
“We need help today, not tomorrow,” Fernando Mateo said in a statement on Wednesday. Mateo serves as the spokesman for United Bodegas of America (UBA). “Panic buttons that can notify numerous people in real time will save lives and deter criminals,” he added.
“We believe that everyone who works or visits a bodega deserves to feel safe, and this new program helps us accomplish that. We are installing SaferWatch technology because it can make the difference between life and death,” Mateo concluded.
While the UBA did not disclose the number of bodegas that would be participating in the program, SaferWatch CEO Geno Roefaro said that “the panic button system is already in use at countless government and other public buildings in the country.
“This specific platform saves lives and uses technology that engages directly with 911 in new ways and methods. When the UBA called me I wanted to help. I love New York City and its diverse and special bodegas,” Roefaro stated.
In April a 29-year-old was shot and killed at a bodega in the Bronx when the individual was hit by a stray bullet amidst an armed heist. A 40-year-old male was killed at a Queens Boulevard bodega when he was stabbed to death after attempting to choke a clerk over beer in May.
And just this past Saturday, a bodega worker in the Bronx was “slammed from behind with a sledgehammer” over a $30 hookah that a couple wanted their money back for. That worker, Oralia Perez is recovering at St. Barnabas Hospital. Just hours after her injury, a man was killed at a convenience store in Queens when he ran inside to attempt to flee from his assailant.
Governor Kathy Hochul attempted to address the issue in May when she passed protections intending to assist small business owners and retail workers on the frontline to combat theft. The protections include a tax credit for $5 million to use for added security measures.
Unsatisfied with Gov. Hochul’s new protections, the union has said that “lip service [is] not enough.”
In a statement on Wednesday, UBA President Radahmes Rodriguez said, “It’s time for action. It’s time for everyone who has ever walked by a bodega or shopped in a bodega to support us.”
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