‘Alvin Bragg says CRIMINALS have more rights than you’: NYC police association rents billboard truck to call out DA's soft on crime policies

The Police Benevolent Association (PBA) of New York City rented a Billboard truck Friday and Saturday to warn local businesses that NYC District Attorney Alvin Bragg is "on the side of criminals, not us." 

The organization posted a video of the Truck to Twitter with a caption that reads, "A message for Midtown business owners: if you try to stop a repeat offender from terrorizing your customers and staff, you’ll be arrested." 

"If you call the police to help, the cop will be arrested," it added. 

The message on the truck states "Attention: Manhattan business owners, lock your doors to keep out violent recidivists. Secure your merchandise to stop serial shoplifters. District Attorney Alvin Bragg says that criminals have more rights than you." Followed by a message to "support your police." 

In a statement outside a Manhattan court on Wednesday, PBA President Patrick Hendry said, "I want to speak to the people here in Manhattan, especially our business owners. Whether you own a large business or a small business, you need to lock your doors to repeat offenders." He continued, "Those who repeatedly steal from you. Those who repeatedly harass and assault your staff. Those individuals who cause mayhem and destroy your stores and cause customers to leave." 

"DA Bragg is not on your side, he is on the side of the repeat offenders," Hendry added. "You cannot try to remove someone from your store, you cannot try to remove a shoplifter from your store, a disorderly from your store, because you will be arrested." 

"And when you call 911 for that police officer to protect you, that police officer will be arrested and be indicted," he said.  

The PBA is responding to the indictment of Officer Salvatore Provenzano this week for an incident back in 2021. Provenzano was charged by the DA's office for allegedly punching a man while trying to remove him from an Apple store after the man was reportedly harassing customers.

According to ABC7, the man was banned from the store before but came back to cause issues. As the store was closing, Provenzano tried to escort the man out by grabbing his arm, but the man pulled away. 

The court documents state, "When the individual pulled out of the defendant's grasp and turned toward the exit, the defendant struck the individual on the left side of his face, causing him substantial pain."

In a statement, DA Bragg said, "We work in close partnership with the NYPD...those sworn to uphold the law must be held accountable." 

One witness, Brian Plunkett, told the New York Post that the officer did nothing wrong. “The perp gave him an elbow to the side of the head, I don’t know if it connected,” he said. “They put him on the ground and arrested him.” He added, “If I get called to court to testify, I will testify on behalf of the police.” 

Retail theft is on the rise across the country. In NYC, there were 13,738 reports of shoplifting, compared to 8,750 quarterly in 2019. In 2022 NYC saw a 45% increase in retail theft, with 63,000 total incidents.