'I will not comply': NYPD chief urges businesses to force patrons to 'show face' upon entry by removing masks

A chief New York Police Department (NYPD) official is encouraging businesses to require patrons to remove their masks upon entry in an effort to prevent crime, AM New York (AMNY) reports.

Per AMNY, Jeffrey Maddrey — "NYPD's highest-ranking uniformed officer" — made the announcement during a press conference last month in response to a Queens jewelry store robbery.

"We're seeing far too often where people are coming up to our businesses, sometimes masks, hood, and latex gloves, and they're being buzzed in, they're being allowed to enter the store, and then we have a robbery or some kind of property being stolen," Maddrey said. "We're asking businesses to be proactive about this, we're asking the businesses to make this a condition of entry, that people when they come in, they should show their face, they should identify themselves."

READ MORE: Idaho lawmakers propose bill to criminalize administering COVID-19 mRNA vaccines

CBS News reports:

The recommendation is a 180-degree turn from mask-wearing norms at the onset of the pandemic. During peak periods of infection, federal agencies mandated mask-wearing in public places, while many businesses required customers to wear them on the premises.

Jean Ryan, president of Disabled In Action of Metropolitan NY does not agree with Maddrey's suggestion, emphasizing masks are a part of "public safety" protocol.

"I will not comply," Ryan said. "I need a mask to protect myself from COVID and other diseases because I am in a high-risk group." She continued, "I understand they want this for public safety but masks also contribute to public safety as well as individual safety."

READ MORE: Ron DeSantis pushing to ban COVID-19 protection measures as cases and deaths rise

AMNY reports:

COVID-19 has killed more than 45,000 New Yorkers in the past three years. The most recent state data, from March 1, had 551 people in the hospital for COVID and 73 in the intensive care unit in the five boroughs.

Still, Maddrey believes mask removal could be a key component to future crime prevention.

"Pre-pandemic, most businesses wouldn't allow you to walk in there with a mask and latex gloves on," he said. "But since the pandemic this is a way of life for us, where people are wearing masks regularly."

READ MORE: 'I obviously don't have evidence': House Republican has a wild new conspiracy about COVID-19 origins

He continued, "But we're seeing this being used too much as a ruse, to enter into businesses and to victimize our businesses."

Ryan wonders whether "robbers would even comply" with the regulation if enforced, according to AMNY.

"How would they even enforce this request," she said. "It is silly."

READ MORE: Abbott says he won't give up COVID-era power until Texas lawmakers ban vaccine mandates, strengthen border

AM New York's full report is available at this link. CBS News' full report is here.