Police praise gun crime program but push for changes to bail reform

While Governor Kathy Hochul celebrates the decline in shootings in New York and attributes it to law enforcement and their help through a state program, police in western New York state said Monday that while the program is working, legislative changes are needed to improve public safety in the state.

The state budget allocates $36 million to the Gun Involved Violence Elimination program, which helps 28 police departments in 21 counties outside New York City identify and reduce the causes of gun violence in communities in the state's north.

In Syracuse and Rochester, shootings fell 32% and 35%, respectively, in the first seven months of 2024 – compared to the same seven-month period last year. In Yonkers, shootings fell 57%, in Nassau County 56% and in Suffolk County 50%.

“The safety of New Yorkers is my top priority,” Hochul said of the program last week. “Our comprehensive efforts to curb gun violence are paying off – and I will never stop fighting for the safety of communities across our state.”

Hochul continues to focus on reducing gun crime because public safety is a top priority for New York voters, while Republicans are pushing the message that recent criminal justice policies have made the state less safe.

According to the state Division of Criminal Justice, the number of shootings in the state peaked in 2021, with 715 incidents through July of that year, compared to 351 so far this year – a 51% decrease.

“We support prosecutors, probation officers, sheriffs and then municipal police departments and provide them with incentives to use evidence-based strategies to reduce violent crime,” said Joe Popcun, deputy director of DCJS, Spectrum News 1“Before the pandemic, we had achieved remarkable success in reducing shootings to their lowest levels, and I am pleased to report that we have returned to pre-pandemic lows in shooting activity.”

And overall, fewer people have died from gun crimes — statewide, there have been 60 fewer firearm deaths so far this year than in the same period in 2021.

Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter said the SNUG street assistance program through GIVE has broken the cycle of violence in Rochester.

“We've arrested hundreds of people here in Monroe County for gun offenses … and that wouldn't have been possible without the resources of GIVE,” Baxter said Monday. “Whether it's overtime for additional deputies, patrol officers and police officers or whether it's making sure the actual Crime Analysis Center has the money and resources to do its job.”

While violence in most New York communities has returned to pre-pandemic levels, in other communities the number of firearm crimes has increased compared to last year.

Recent DCJS data from July show that the number of shootings involving personal injury has increased in certain communities, including the cities of Albany, Buffalo and Poughkeepsie.

Popcun said gun violence in areas like Buffalo has declined and remained stable over the past year, which is the reason for the increase.

But Baxter said other crimes, such as stolen vehicles and shoplifting, remain high. He added that before the 2019 bail reform changes, the city of Rochester averaged 35 murders per year, but so far this year the city has seen 35 murders — meaning the state's focus on the drop in shootings doesn't provide a full picture of New York's overall culture of crime or lawlessness.

Baxter said state law needs to be changed again to allow law enforcement to detain a person for carrying an illegal firearm or to give repeat offenders higher penalties. Those changes were made as part of the state's 2019 bail reform law.

“We can't arrest these people,” the sheriff from western New York State said. “These are foot chases, these are car chases; these are cops and bad guys with guns, and that's just a recipe for disaster. If we can't arrest someone after we've gone to all this effort to take them into custody with an illegal weapon, what do we do?”

The sheriff wants small changes to New York's bail law, but not a repeal, and said Governor Hochul has been open to further changes in recent meetings with police.

“We are not asking for a return to where we were on bail reform, we are asking for small adjustments,” Baxter said.

But the police and DCJS agree that more needs to be done and that success depends on a consistent, holistic strategy.

“There is no one size fits all solution for all communities,” Popcun said. “It really comes down to the combination of programs that you can meaningfully participate in to prevent and reduce violence.”