In the last quarter of 2024, Suffolk prosecutors have secured stay-away orders for 73 people charged with shoplifting, larceny and other offenses at South Bay Mall as part of a new store-based crime initiative, Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden announced Sunday.

“We and our initiative partners are concerned about all retail areas of the city but the troubling incidents at South Bay in the past made it an area of particular focus,” Hayden said Sunday.

For the South Bay Mall in Dorchester, prosecutors requested a total of 116 stay-away orders for individuals arraigned on related charges from September to December 2024, the DA’s office said. The orders go into effect while the cases are pending and remain after sentencing for those convicted.

The orders are part of a “Safe Shopping Initiative” launched in 2024 by the DA’s office, Boston Police and small business and retailer groups, according to the DA’s office, “An effort to increase consumer safety and help store managers strategize responses to shoplifting and retail larcenies.”

Along with retail crime concerns, the DA said, the initiative formed in response to frustration with the closure of several Boston pharmacies serving minority communities.

On Monday for a recent case, prosecutors received a stay away-order for a 39-year-old man arraigned on 11 outstanding warrants at South Boston court for shoplifting offenses at South Bay.

Of the 45 December cases, Hayden’s office detailed, 16 included drug-treatment provisions as part of sentencing, eight resulted in incarceration of up to one year, and 31 had the existing stay-away orders remain in effect. At only Target in the mall, $3038.80 was ordered in restitution.

Prosecutors secured a referrals to drug treatment programs for nine defendants whose cases were pending as part of the initiative.

“Our overarching goal with this initiative is to make shopping spaces safe for consumers and workers and to help prevent any more store closures, which we know have a dramatic impact on residents, particularly our older residents,” said Hayden. “But that doesn’t mean seeking incarceration for every offender.  In many cases, the effective path is to address the underlying reason for the conduct, which is very often addiction disorders.”