State GIVEs Grants to Reduce Violent Crime in Suffolk

Suffolk County law enforcement agencies will receive more than $1.3 million in funding from New York State to combat gun violence and violent crime, Governor Kathy Hochul and state Senator Monica R. Martinez announced.  The grants are part of a $36 million second round of the Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative, developed to support local law enforcement agencies throughout the state to further reduce criminal acts of violence.  So far, during 2024, communities that participated in the GIVE initiative have experienced a 28% decline in shootings compared to the same period in 2023.

The awarded funding will be allocated as follows:

• The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office will receive $598,386.
• The Suffolk County Police Department will receive $487,893.
• The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office will receive $133,398.
• The Suffolk County Department of Probation will receive $88,000.

State funding provided through the GIVE grant can be used to support law enforcement personnel costs, overtime, equipment, and technology.  This is the initiative’s second year of operation, and it has supported 28 police departments, district attorneys’ offices, probation departments, and sheriffs’ offices in 21 counties: Albany, Broome, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Dutchess, Erie, Jefferson, Monroe, Nassau, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Orange, Rensselaer, Rockland, Schenectady, Suffolk, Tompkins, Ulster, and Westchester.  The program’s second-round cycle will run from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.