NEWBURGH – US Senator Charles Schumer said Wednesday he wants to do more to stop crime and gun violence in the Hudson Valley. Schumer, with Newburgh Mayor Torrance Harvey and Poughkeepsie Mayor Rob Rolison, and other community advocates, gathered at the Armory Unity Center to talk about a wave of violence, some of which has been fueled by guns and hopelessness and which surged 72 percent in 2021 in Newburgh and Poughkeepsie.
Now Schumer wants the federal government to do more after the Department of Justice recently announced it was launching a new Community Violence Intervention (CVI) initiative to help communities battle violence in many levels.
“New York has been a leader has been a leader at implementing Community Violence Intervention programs, which have proven effective at reducing violence, but have given people a chance at a better life. And that’s a beautiful, wonderful thing,” Schumer said. “For too long, states and cities like Newburgh and Poughkeepsie have been on their own when it comes to providing the resources to properly implement these life-saving programs.”
Schumer said he is urging the Biden administration to commit $250 million to help get a CVI initiative moving, something Mayor Harvey welcomes. “We’re very excited about the possibilities of this,” said Harvey.
“We hired many of our formerly incarcerated individuals, who are on parole, and we got them workforce development, resume writing, job placement, working in our departments, our street sweepers program to keep our city clean.”
Schumer is also working to regulate ghost guns, which can be made at home and escape regulation. “For the past two administrations,” he said, “I have been committed to urging the Department of Justice to tighten the regulations on ghost guns. They are dangerous in New York and outside the regulatory framework and times manufactured at home with firearm kits.” Now DOJ is submitting a final ruling on ghost guns to ensure they are regulated the same way as traditional firearms and subject to background checks.
