Sen. Charles Schumer wants tougher penalties and better security measures to help protect pharmacies from the kind of deadly holdups that stunned Long Island on New Year’s Eve.
The senator’s plan calls on the Drug Enforcement Agency to issue guidelines to help drugstores protect the highly addictive narcotic painkillers that drug-addled junkies are willing to kill for.
The measures would include installation of silent alarms to alert cops, timed safes to keep the drugs locked up, and bullet-proof glass to safeguard employees from the gun-toting thugs.
He also wants the DEA to share the information it collects on pharmaceutical crimes with local law enforcement, so cops can track drug fiends who go doctor-shopping to obtain multiple prescriptions.
The senator’s call to action comes after ATF Agent John Capano was shot to death while trying to stop a Long Island pharmacy robbery in Seaford.