POUGHKEEPSIE – State Senator Rob Rolison, a former Poughkeepsie mayor, reiterated that “public safety is the top priority,” in response to the April 30 shooting of two teenage males near Poughkeepsie High School. The shooting was described as an “ambush-style shooting” by City of Poughkeepsie Police Chief Tom Pape.
The City of Poughkeepsie Police Department is partnering, and has been for a good number of years, with multiple law enforcement agencies through the GIVE program,” Rolison said, noting that state funding for the program was increased during the 2023 budget.
The state’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative provides state funding to local law enforcement agencies for equipment, overtime, and personnel, and provides comprehensive, focused training and technical assistance to those agencies. GIVE is a key component of a comprehensive plan to reduce shootings and gun-related violent crime, including murders, outside of New York City.
The City of Poughkeepsie Police Department is one of 28 agencies throughout the state that receives the added funding.
“The city is getting more money for targeted policing to identify these individuals, prevent these things from happening, and most importantly, is holding these people (the shooters) accountable.” Rolison is familiar with the policing efforts in the city having served as mayor of Poughkeepsie for seven years before being elected to the state senate. He is also a retired Town of Poughkeepsie police detective.
“We’ve got to get these individuals who are carrying these guns off the streets, held accountable, and send a message that this is not going to be allowed in the City of Poughkeepsie.”
