A top New York City Police Department official advised business owners to only allow in patrons who take off their masks, ostensibly to deter crime by people who cannot be identified by cameras.
The Feb. 28 comments by the NYPD’s Chief of Department, Jeffrey Maddrey, would represent a remarkable development in city policy towards the COVID-19 pandemic, likely marking the first time city brass officially and explicitly suggested people stop wearing masks in some capacity. The recommendation comes about a year after New York began easing mask mandates in public places, and most New Yorkers began to shed their face coverings.
Maddrey made the comments during a press conference about a Feb. 22 jewelry store robbery in Flushing, Queens, where several thieves made off with more than $1 million in jewelry. One man in particular was wearing all-black and a face mask when he smashed a display case and piled loot into a bag; he and the others pistol-whipped and kicked the 78-year-old proprietor of the store before fleeing. They have not been caught.
The chief said that to prevent robberies by masked bandits, businesses should be “proactive” and begin to require patrons to slip off their mask upon entry so they can be identified both by employees and by security cameras, including those equipped with facial recognition tech.
