Governor Hochul: “We know that gun violence is an epidemic at this point, the numbers continued to increase since the pandemic, but it's not just New York State. It's not just New York City, but we're going to continue focusing in neighborhoods where you'll be deployed. Albany, Buffalo, Hempstead, Mount Vernon, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Syracuse, Troy, and Yonkers”
Hochul: "I need you to help us use your skills. Mediate conflict, mentor young people, and work with local partners. Show them what success looks like, show them and tell them your very story. Because you'll be on the front lines to fight gun violence, and we're all counting on you, but make no mistake, what you're doing today truly sets you apart as a caring individual, someone who's concerned about the future and the lives of others. That is powerful, that is a form of public and community service."
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the event is available here.
PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks are available below:
Good afternoon everyone, and thank you, Commissioner Bray, it's great to see you in this setting. I often see Commissioner Bray doing everything from fighting storms to dealing with utility outages and power outages. So she's using her talents here to work on a cause that I feel very significant, that we all need to have an all-hands-on-deck approach to all my commissioners are fully engaged in working on the crisis of crime in our streets. And I want to thank her for her leadership and her comments here today. Also I want to acknowledge our Commissioner of Criminal Justice Services, as someone who had been our Secretary Of State, and is now bringing her passion to solving problems to her job. And that is Rosana Rosado. And also, Jerome Brown, who is our Director of SNUG training. I want to thank all of you.
And I want you to know why this is such an important program to me. I was actually very familiar with the SNUG program that was developed in Western New York, Buffalo, where I lived. My husband was a federal prosecutor worked closely with former gang members, people had been in the streets. All with the purpose of making the streets safer for people to live and recreate, and to go their jobs, and take care of their children. So this is an important program because I know that it works. I want to continue investing in what we know has a proven track record of accomplishment.
So I want to thank every one of you for believing in the cause of SNUG and how significant this is, and to use your life's experiences. Because we think about the people we're trying to persuade to take a different path. Young people in particular, who many grew up in a neighborhood where they don't see a role model that's been successful. They only know the streets from their father, perhaps, their older brothers, and it becomes a cycle of violence because they don't think they have other options. And people who've been through this, who lived through this, and have conquered this, come through this stronger.
I'm so grateful for you to come to this place, be trained, understand that the power you have to change the life of individuals who otherwise could end up continued on the streets or in jail, in prison, or even worse, to be killed by gun violence themselves. So we know that gun violence is an epidemic at this point, the numbers continued to increase since the pandemic, but it's not just New York State. It's not just New York City, but we're going to continue focusing in neighborhoods where you'll be deployed. Albany, Buffalo, Hempstead, Mount Vernon, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Syracuse, Troy, and Yonkers.
Let's spread out these programs, and to see that it's not just happening here, but this is the place we're going to start driving down those crime numbers, because behind every statistic, is a grieving family. A loss of a brother, loss of a sister, loss of a parent, and there is too much grief going on in our society now. We came through a really tough time with the pandemic, two solid years of people being constrained and not having the normal support system. And now, a lot of people are taking anger and anxiety out in the streets. And that's why we need you now more than ever. You have lived this, some of you. You understand what the motivators are, what drives someone to make those wrong decisions that can alter their life forever. So I need you to help us use your skills. Mediate conflict, mentor young people, and work with local partners. Show them what success looks like, show them and tell them your very story. Because you'll be on the front lines to fight gun violence, and we're all counting on you, but make no mistake, what you're doing today truly sets you apart as a caring individual, someone who's concerned about the future and the lives of others. That is powerful, that is a form of public and community service.
And also, I want you to know the state will continue our commitments, not just to support programs like this and to elevate leaders like yourselves, but also in the following announced $8.2 million of investment, to bring in more so we can bring in more people at 12 existing SNUG sites. And that joins over 109 dedicated New Yorkers already, 138 total. We've had nearly 40 hires since last Fall, so it's increasing our numbers, which is important. Increasing the money toward it, which is important. But also making sure we attract the best, and that's who I'm talking to right now. You're the first class to ever train in this facility. It allows you to experience real life scenarios that you'll face every single day as you're out on the streets. This warehouse, literally, it replicates a city and I've been out there, I've been to some of the training out there and you're going to be joined by others.
And I want you to know in my State of the State address and my budget address I talked about this program because I believe in this program and I said, I'll triple the amount of investment that we have already. Let's go to $24 million, nearly $25 million to support this. So let's expand what we're doing already to Utica, Schenectady and Niagara Falls. So you're part of that army, I need you. I need you to be out there. I need you to bring your talents and your experiences to solving the problems of the streets. And as a result, I guarantee we'll have more guns off the streets.
We'll have more young people who find a path toward a productive life. Be blended into society, get job training, have their own families and live successfully. And you'll be the ones who made that difference. And that is a profound opportunity that each of us who feel recalled to serve others has and I want to thank all of you for what you're willing to do. As I mentioned, gun violence is high. We're trying to hit it from different fronts. Just last month I met with President Biden and our attorney general at the federal level Merrick Garland and we talked about what we can do. You know, focusing on keeping people safe and coordinating with people, you know, law enforcement sometimes works in silos.
You know, the locals are doing this, the State's doing this, the Feds are doing this, the FBI and ATF and others. People all have intelligence, they know what's going on. They know who the players are, but they're not sharing the information. So we said, and working with the mayor of New York and the mayors across New York state, let's bring it all together.
Common purpose: no reason to have our own turf battles when we have to be fighting the battles in the streets. So our objective is to use data and analysis, find out where the highest rates of gun violence are, the highest incidents of crime are occurring right now, and to also deploy people like yourselves to those very neighborhoods.
We also talked about how we can keep guns off the streets. In January, I launched the first in the nation consortium on illegal guns. We have representatives in law enforcement from nine states, plus the NYPD, Boston PD, and the federal ATF. Never before have they been brought together toward a common purpose, which is finding the guns and stopping them before they get to our streets.
Because 80% of the guns used in New York - they came from another street. They came from another place. They came from another state. So making investments in the human intelligence, information gathering analysis and using technology is another way we're going to continue fighting criminal activity. So we're going to be adding even more money to that, $13 million more there, as well as tripling the amount of money toward our state police's gun tracing efforts as well.
So we're taking this issue seriously. When I talk about all these other programs I, in my heart, believe what's going to work the most, most successfully, is the work you're going to do. The training, the connections you're making, the relationships you're building, the network of support that you'll have from being part of this program.
And then going out there where people need you, they need a sign of hope. They need to have faith that they're not going to have the life that seems to be cut out for them because of the zip code they're born into. No, you're going to offer them a whole new beginning. And for that, all New Yorkers are grateful for you participating in this training and being willing to be part of our family, to help save lives and protect people in our streets, so thank you.