Governor Hochul: “We put $347 million in our budget once again to drive money to local law enforcement. I want to make sure you see that… I have said when we want our sheriffs and our local law enforcement to do something, whether it's providing services in jail, medication assisted treatment, I know it's expensive. I said, ‘We are going to pay for that. We can't expect them to do this. They're trying to stretch their own budgets. If we want them to help do something additional to what they normally would do, we're going to pay for it.’ That is my commitment to all of you.”
Hochul: “And the more support I can give an organization like this, and to all of you out there in your counties, all across this great state, I know it would be a better place, a safer place, and a place that people want to live and raise their families. That's what we're in this together for, and I'm so happy to have the partnership of all of you.”
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul delivered remarks at the New York State Sheriffs' Association Winter Conference.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available here.
PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
What a pleasure it is to see all of you here today. I've been to this conference in the past. I don't think I was officially a Governor at the time, but I come because I know how critically important the work is you do every single day. I served in many positions in local office. I was a county official working very close to, I was a county clerk, with my county sheriff way back when it was Pat Gallivan and Tim Howard, and then John Garcia.
So, I've had a close affinity with my Erie County sheriffs, and also now, having lived in Albany for a little bit of time, now I've had a chance to see firsthand the incredible work that your president has been doing, Sheriff Craig Apple. What he's doing, reforms in the jails and trying to really solve a lot of society's problems, and he's been a great partner as we continue to work together to drive down crime and violence, which as you know is my top priority.
Looking forward to swearing in momentarily, I'm really excited about it. Our Delaware County Sheriff Craig DuMond, who will be your incoming president. I took a look at his resume. Boy, 32 years in law enforcement and everything, from working as a correctional officer for the New York State Division of Youth, and being a police officer and a county legislator, and a town supervisor, an undersheriff, and a sheriff. Is there anything you haven't done yet? Don't go for Governor. We're good.
Thank you for saying yes and being prepared to assume the important responsibility of this organization. Peter Kehoe, we saw each other at the conference a short time ago and he invited me to come, and I was really happy to say yes.
We’ll be hearing from John Hubbard, the judge needs to be ready to make it official shortly. Chairman Allen Riley, our Commission on Corrections. I've got a few thoughts for you. Those of you who follow what I do a little bit, it's in the news that I – the first words out of my mouth in my State of the State over a week ago and in my budget, were all about public safety.
And really that means fighting crime. And keeping the public safe. There is no greater responsibility for a public official, but particularly a governor, to use all of her resources and all of her assets and deploy people to help all of you who are literally the boots on the ground to keep our community safe.
This is something I've been passionate about my whole life. My husband was the United States Attorney for 17 counties. He worked closely with the Western District continuing to bring the resources of the federal government to the local governments. And I know as Governor, we have such an important relationship to support you in how you manage the jails and how you do your everyday work in managing just society and dealing with all the ills that are coming up.
Because probably 10,15 years ago, you would not have thought that your members of your teams would be out there literally saving lives with narcan, people overdosing in rural communities – not just the big cities. This is affecting our rural areas and our suburban areas with a vengeance for such a long time, so we're going to continue to drive a resource to help you fight the scourge of the opioid overdose crisis.
Also, the mental health crisis – I put that front and center in my budget because no one else has been talking about it. I know you just had a presentation on this. I hope you were listening well about the importance of breaking down the stigma when it comes to saying, “you know what, I'm a human being – I need some help.” And you go back to your job as you get that help and nothing changes. That you're still the same person. Whether you're a man enough or a woman enough to say, “I need a helping hand.” I want to make sure that particularly in law enforcement, which has a 60 percent increase, in the number of people who are now experiencing either suicidal thoughts or heading into a dark place or turning to self-medication – it's because they're on the front lines and they see humanity sometimes and it's worse.
How can that not take a toll on someone? How can it not? So, I think it's about time we recognize this. I put $13 million in my budget to help devise plans to get training out there to all – the sheriffs, of course, but to members of your team who are out there who are suffering sometimes in silence. And yes, the long hours take a toll on relationships and marriages and there's a lot of stressors. And I want you to know I know this. I've seen this. And I want to help be a partner to solve it because we are nothing without all of you – out there keeping the order of society, protecting people, helping our shop owners who are so sick and tired of retail theft. They work so hard. I worked at my mom's little retail shop for a long time, and you work, put your life savings and your heart and soul into your business and then have people who are so brazen now. I don't know what's happened. People just walking in and stealing things off the shelves.
The car thefts that are so far up. I mean, we work very, very hard together with our Crime Analysis Center, helping solve crimes. We’re looking to drive down the murders and the gun possession cases. Those are way down. That is very good news. What has popped up are the quality-of-life issues. They're just driving everybody nuts. Not feeling safe walking down your streets anymore.
The specter of homelessness, but not just homelessness, people with serious mental health problems, who should not be on the streets, they should not be in jails, they should be somewhere getting real help. That's how we start talking about, start tackling the real problems of society that you and your teams encounter every single day.
Again, my commitment is where the money is. We put $347 million in our budget once again to drive money to local law enforcement. I want to make sure you see that. And as a local county official, we used to always rail against those unfunded mandates from Albany. They drove me nuts. I have said when we want our sheriffs and our local law enforcement to do something, whether it's providing services in jail, medication assisted treatment, I know it's expensive. I said, “We are going to pay for that. We can't expect them to do this. They're trying to stretch their own budgets. If we want them to help do something additional to what they normally would do, we're going to pay for it.” That is my commitment to all of you.
So, I hope you’ll take advantage of the relationship in the State of New York, which has never been strong with local law enforcement. It truly has not, because I see it, I understand it, and I know that we can do so much more to lift people up and solve problems by working together. And the more support I can give an organization like this, and to all of you out there in your counties, all across this great state, I know it would be a better place, a safer place, and a place that people want to live and raise their families.
That's what we're in this together for, and I'm so happy to have the partnership of all of you. And with that, I'd like to bring out our judge to make sure we make it official that you have a brand-new President who's willing to accept the responsibility of being the President of this organization for the next year. Sheriff DuMond.