Record-Level Funding Secured by the Governor Expands Nationally Recognized Initiative to Eight New Police Departments, Four Additional Counties
GIVE Funding Now Supports 28 Police Departments, and District Attorneys' Offices, Probation Departments, and Sheriffs' Offices in 21 Counties Hardest Hit by Gun Violence and Violent Crime
53 Percent Increase in Illegal Gun Seizures (2018 vs. 2022), and Double-Digit Declines in Gun Violence in Communities Currently Participating in GIVE, and in New York City Thus Far This Year
Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday, June 20, announced nearly $36.2 million to law enforcement agencies participating in the state's Gun Involved Violence Elimination initiative. The record-level funding secured by the Governor in the FY 2024 Budget has allowed the state to expand the nationally recognized initiative to eight new police departments and four additional counties. GIVE funding now supports 28 police departments, and district attorneys' offices, probation departments, and sheriffs' offices in 21 counties outside of New York City hardest hit by gun violence and violent crime. At the same time, Governor Hochul announced a 53 percent increase in illegal gun seizures when comparing 2018 to 2022, and double-digit declines in gun violence in communities currently participating in GIVE, and in New York City, so far this year.
"Addressing gun violence takes a comprehensive, multifaceted approach, but support for our local law enforcement partners on the front lines of this fight is paramount," Governor Hochul said. "I am proud to provide our current partners with significant increases in funding and extend the GIVE initiative to additional communities so they can implement evidence-based strategies and have the resources they need to get guns off our streets and drive down violent crime."
"This investment will ensure our law enforcement agencies can continue playing a critical role in combating gun violence statewide," said Lieutenant Governor Delgado. "We're supporting proven strategies to address crime and build safer communities across New York."
Governor Hochul announced the grants and significant progress in removing illegal guns from the state's communities after meeting with members of the Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns. Last year, police agencies across the state seized 10,427 illegal guns, a 53 percent increase when compared to 2018 (6,819 guns), and a 15 percent increase as compared to 2021, when 9,088 guns were seized. The New York State Police alone seized 1,429 illegal guns in 2023, as compared to 551 in 2018: a 159 percent increase.
The Governor also highlighted double-digit decreases in gun violence data recently reported by the 20 police departments currently participating in GIVE, and the New York City Police Department. Shooting incidents with injury in GIVE communities declined 28 percent (292 vs. 407), and the number of individuals shot decreased 27 percent (346 vs. 475) during the first five months of 2023 as compared to the same timeframe last year. Both of these gun violence indicators have been trending below the five-year average (2018 - 2022) since January 2023. In addition, 37 fewer individuals (51 vs. 88, -42 percent) were killed by gun violence when comparing January through May of this year with the same five-month period in 2022, and that indicator has been trending below the five-year average since March 2023. In the five boroughs, shooting incidents and the number of individuals shot both decreased by 25.6 percent through June 11, 2023, as compared to the same period last year.
The Division of Criminal Justice Services established the GIVE initiative a decade ago to provide funding, training and technical assistance to 20 police departments and district attorneys' offices, probation departments, and sheriffs' offices in the 17 counties outside of New York City that account for more than 80 percent of the violent crime in the state: Albany (Albany Police), Broome (Binghamton Police), Chautauqua (Jamestown Police), Dutchess (Poughkeepsie Police), Erie (Buffalo Police), Monroe (Rochester Police), Nassau (Nassau County, and Hempstead Police), Niagara (Niagara Falls Police), Oneida (Utica Police), Onondaga (Syracuse Police), Orange (Newburgh, and Middletown Police), Rensselaer (Troy Police), Rockland (Spring Valley), Schenectady (Schenectady), Suffolk (Suffolk County Police), Ulster (Kingston Police) and Westchester (Mt. Vernon, and Yonkers Police).
The infusion of record-level funding secured by Governor Hochul will allow DCJS to provide additional funding to existing GIVE agencies; expand the initiative to Cayuga (Auburn Police), Chemung (Elmira Police), Jefferson (Watertown Police) and Tompkins (Ithaca Police) counties; and add four new police departments to current GIVE partnerships: Amherst, Cheektowaga, and Lackawanna in Erie County, and Greece in Monroe County.
DCJS analyzed shooting, violent crime, and violent crime by firearm data to identify the new counties and police departments and allocate the funding. The agency developed a two-tier system: Tier 1 grantees will continue to focus on shootings and firearm-related crimes, and Tier 2 grantees will focus on violent crime reduction. Agencies receiving funding in the 21 counties must collaborate to develop a comprehensive plan outlining the evidence-based strategies they will use to address shootings or violent crime in the targeted communities.
The GIVE grant cycle runs from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, and agencies will use funding for personnel, overtime, equipment and technology. The total grant award for each county will be shared among the police departments listed and their respective county district attorneys' offices, probation departments and sheriffs' offices, according to each county plan.
Capital Region
- Tier I: Albany Police Department and Albany County agencies: $2,441,289; Troy Police Department and Rensselaer County agencies: $1,285,599; and Schenectady Police Department and Schenectady County agencies: $1,200,773
Central New York
- Tier I: Syracuse Police Department and Onondaga County agencies: $3,231,376
- Tier II: Auburn Police Department and Cayuga County agencies: $370,655
Finger Lakes
- Rochester Police Department (Tier 1), Greece Police Department (Tier II) and Monroe County agencies: $6,254,325
Long Island
- Tier I: Nassau County Police Department, Hempstead Police Department and Nassau County agencies: $1,660,769; and Suffolk County Police Department and Suffolk County agencies: $1,307,677
Mid-Hudson
- Tier I: Mount Vernon Police Department, Yonkers Police Department and Westchester County agencies: $1,560,120; and Poughkeepsie Police Department and Dutchess County agencies: $1,406,363
- Newburgh Police Department (Tier I) and Middletown Police Department (Tier II) and Orange County agencies: $1,782,060
- Tier II: Kingston Police Department and Ulster County agencies: $405,525; and Spring Valley Police Department and Rockland agencies: $357,920
Mohawk Valley
- Tier I: Utica Police Department and Oneida County agencies: $1,435,330
North Country
- Tier II: Watertown Police Department and Jefferson County agencies: $507,948
Southern Tier
- Tier II: Binghamton Police Department and Broome County agencies: $872,833; Ithaca Police Department and Tompkins County agencies: $383,595; and Elmira Police Department and Chemung County agencies: $383,147
Western New York
- Buffalo Police Department (Tier I); Amherst Police Department, Cheektowaga Police Department and Lackawanna Police Department (Tier II) and Erie County agencies: $6,482,391
- Tier I: Niagara Falls Police Department and Niagara County agencies: $2,188,290
- Tier II: Jamestown Police Department and Chautauqua County agencies: $682,014
The expansion of GIVE is a key component of Governor Hochul's comprehensive funding plan to address gun violence and create a safer state, which also recognizes the importance of a multifaceted approach improving public safety. The FY24 State Budget also provides significant funding to community-based organizations across the state that use a public health approach to address gun violence: identify the source, interrupt the transmission, and treat those affected. This includes $20 million for the SNUG Street Outreach program administered and supported by DCJS in Albany, the Bronx, Buffalo, Hempstead, Mt. Vernon, Newburgh, Niagara Falls, Poughkeepsie, Syracuse, Rochester, Troy, Utica, Wyandanch and Yonkers. A SNUG program in Schenectady is slated to begin this fall. DCJS, in partnership with local law enforcement agencies, also supports a network of 10 Crime Analysis Centers that provide critical analysis, information and investigative support to police and prosecutors across the state. An 11th Center is being established in New York City with $1 million secured by Governor Hochul in the FY 2024 Budget, bringing the state's investment in the network to $17 million.
The Division of Criminal Justice Services provides critical support to all facets of the state's criminal justice system, including, but not limited to: training law enforcement and other criminal justice professionals; overseeing a law enforcement accreditation program; ensuring Breathalyzer and speed enforcement equipment used by local law enforcement operate correctly; managing criminal justice grant funding; analyzing statewide crime and program data; providing research support; overseeing county probation departments and alternatives to incarceration programs; and coordinating youth justice policy. Follow DCJS on Facebook and Twitter.
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