Brazen shoplifting attempts, including a recent one at Marshalls on Central Park Avenue in Yonkers just weeks ago, have become all too common in Westchester.

Police stood in front of the same store on Thursday to announce a major crackdown on the growing crime.

Yonkers Police Commissioner Chris Sapienza says his department has made 62 shoplifting arrests since January. He said February saw the highest number of shoplifting cases in Yonkers in five years.

He's instituted a sweeping plan that includes:

      -Looking for patterns in shoplifting.

      -Adding uniformed officers to do foot patrols at shopping centers. 

      -Deploying plainclothes officers to parking lots to intercept shoplifters.

      -Expediting response times by a new code through the communications division.

Police are also meeting with store managers, such as Nadine Shaw who works at a Walgreens in Yonkers. She says shoplifters brazenly stole merchandise just two days ago.

"When she walked in, she literally announced they was coming in to steal and that she was coming in to steal and there is nothing we can do about it. There is nothing the cops can do about it," she says. 

The hope is that this crackdown will reduce shoplifting so retail stores stay profitable and stay in Yonkers.

Another issue is repeat offenders. Yonkers police arrested the same suspect three times in three weeks for shoplifting.

Police are working with the district attorney's office to better prosecute them. Some people say the solution is to get rid of or change bail reform.