Governor Hochul: "It's clear there's much more work to do because New Yorkers deserve a criminal justice system that prioritizes both safety and justice...we cannot rest until every single New Yorker feels safe in their homes, in their streets, on the subway, their places of work. And we have to not stop until every single category of crime is down."

Hochul: "I want to remove any question about whether a judge has discretion to set bail or remand individuals, meaning hold them if they're accused of a serious crime...we're not incarcerating people for low level crimes or criminalizing poverty, but giving judges the discretion necessary to ensure public safety and public opinion is clearly on the side of this clarification."

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced new statewide crime data and highlighted the need for public safety investments and reforms included in her Fiscal Year 2024 budget. During a speech at the Capitol, the Governor outlined her $491.9 million investment in proven strategies to address and prevent gun crime and violence, reduce recidivism, and help the criminal justice system continue to rebound from pandemic-era disruptions. Shooting incidents with injury declined 17 percent in New York City and 15 percent in the 20 communities that report gun violence data to the state when comparing last year to 2021, and those incidents continued to decline in early 2023. The number of reported murders declined 11 percent statewide in last year, with 94 fewer individuals killed, and while overall index crime increased 21 percent, those numbers are nowhere near those seen in three decades ago. Governor Hochul also made the case for her common-sense proposal to remove the "least restrictive" standard the state's bail law, which is key to restoring judicial discretion and holding accountable those who continually reoffend and commit violent crimes.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Governor Hochul: Thank you for joining us today. Thank you. First of all, I want to acknowledge the presence of the New York State dream team, or at least part of it. That would be the individuals who are the consummate public servants. I want to thank people like Commissioner Rossana Rosado, our Commissioner of Criminal Justice Services, for taking a step up from Secretary of State. She's working on really important issues, and I'm so proud to have her as part of our team. And of course, we have representation from our State Police. We have Colonel, tell me your name again?

Dominick Chiumento, New York State Police: Dominick Chiumento.

Governor Hochul: Dominick Chiumento, who's representing the State Police, and I thank him for being here as well.

And also, I want to thank Micah Lasher for all he has done. Being a driver behind many of our policy initiatives as well as Marcos Soler, our Deputy Secretary for Public Safety and other issues.

We also were joined by a number of our mayors. We see our mayors often, and I think that's important. I come out of local government, and I have such an appreciation for what you do. Your jobs are tough, and I thank you for bringing representatives of your police departments as well. We have Mayor of Albany, Kathy Sheehan, thank you again. Patrick Madden, the Mayor of Troy, Gary McCarthy, the Mayor of Schenectady, and Bill Keeler, the Mayor of the City of Cohoes, who we just did a nice announcement with a couple weeks ago. Did we not? Alright. Don't spend it all in one place.

Also, proud to have a number of representatives from our state legislature. We're working very closely together to ensure public safety for our residents and ensure affordability. So, we have a great process underway. Senator James Skoufis has joined us - Senator Monica Martinez, Senator Kevin Thomas, Jessica, State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, Assemblymember Monica Wallace and also the President-elect of the District Attorney's Association for the State of New York, John Flynn from Erie County. Where's John? Hi, John. Good to see you again. Good to see you again.

You know, over the last couple weeks, I've been holding a number of events to showcase certain elements of our budget plan that I introduced back in January. Some of them have to do with housing. We've had housing roundtables from Buffalo to Long Island. I've sat with business owners and labor leaders and community activists and clergy to talk about housing, how important that is that we address that crisis.

We also have dealt with mental health. I've done a number of roundtables, speaking to professionals, but particularly last week, we had a really profound event, sitting with a number of teenagers who talked to us about the mental health challenges that they and their fellow students are going through.

So, it's important for me to get out there and hear directly from people as well as focusing on what we're going to talk about here today, which is public safety. And we're also going to be able to announce today, for the first time, our Division of Criminal Justice Services, they have the crime statistics compiled for 2022.

All of last year's story will be unfolded, and we'll be releasing those statistics today. But this gives me an opportunity in that context to talk about our continuing efforts to fight crime. As I've said for my last year and a half as your Governor, protecting New Yorkers is my number one priority, full stop.

And that's why we've made a steadfast commitment to fighting crime all across our state. Driving down gun violence and restoring public safety, also expediting our cases through the criminal justice system. When you think about it, the criminal justice system was literally shut down. It was paralyzed during the duration of the pandemic when there were literally no jury trials.

The cases were backlogged, and it just brought the system to its knees. We are working really hard to try and restore the criminal justice system and the court system to what it was supposed to be. But we're also championing reforms that restore people's confidence in the criminal justice system, something that's personally important to me.

So, a day hasn't gone by where I have not been laser focused on this objective. We invested a record amount of money in these issues. $200 million to address gun violence. We banned ghost guns. We've seen great success with the enactment of those laws, thank you to the legislature as well. We expanded eligibility for gun crimes, bail eligibility for those as well in our budget last year.

We also strengthened the red flag laws. This has made a huge difference requiring the police department, State Police, to file an order of protection whenever they have probable cause that someone would do harm to themselves or others. That has led to over 7,000 orders of protection thus far — a 400 percent increase from the previous year. So, this is another area where we're using all the tools at our disposal to keep people safe.

We also raised the age for the purchase of semi-automatic weapons to age 21 in the aftermath of the slaughter in the Tops grocery store in Buffalo, something that drove a lot of reforms. Again, the legislature came together with us to say, "No more. We have to make some serious changes."

And we also, last January, announced the first-in-the-nation, nine state — and still expanding — task force. So, we're talking about guns coming from out of state. They're not made here in the State of New York. They're made out of state. The illegal pipeline is something that we've been laser focused on - not just here in New York, but with our partners in other states as well. And that has been recognized nationally as a model for what should be happening elsewhere.

We also tripled our investment in gun violence disruption programs. These work. I have seen these since my time working in local office in Western New York. You know, we've been out in the streets. You talk to these individuals, a number of them have been involved with the justice system themselves. They are the ones that people trust. They're the ones who are the trusted individuals who can go to a community, tell what it's like, and how young people, particularly, are vulnerable to a certain path. And this is the way they can talk to someone who's been through the experience who can help lead them in a different direction. So, we're focusing on that as well.

But that was last year. We're really excited about what we're proposing this year. But let's talk about some of those statistics that are being unfolded, revealed here today for the first time. Statewide, shootings went down from 2021 to 2022 by 16 percent. You can see the chart that starts in 2017. Down 17 percent in New York City, 15 percent in the rest of the Upstate cities.

We've identified 20 cities — these are called GIVE jurisdictions - these are the ones where there are Gun Involved Violence Disruption Programs. So, we're going to focus on them as well. And let's start, let's just — we even have a number for what we're doing thus far in 2023. Thank God the trend is not even just continuing, it's actually improving. Thus far, shootings are down 21 percent in New York City and 34 percent outside of New York City for this year alone.

So, these are very, very positive developments. And we're seeing a positive reduction, back to closer to where we were before the pandemic, which is what we're striving for. Outside New York City, shootings have returned to pre-pandemic levels. You can see where we were in 2019 and where we are now in 2023. So again, that's outside of New York City. Very good trend that we're heading on right now. And I know Mayor Adams and I are working, and he's working around the clock to focus on crime. And the shootings in New York City, again, are trending in the right direction — actually heading closer to where we were in 2019, the pre-pandemic levels.

Statewide, murders are down 11 percent from 2021 to 2022. And again, the right direction, but we're not yet back to the historically low numbers that we achieved before the pandemic. In addition, we compare ourselves to other states on the homicides, New York State's homicide rate is almost two times lower than the national average. That is significant. You know, people talk about states that they're most safe in. They feel safe in cities, the data reflects that we are absolutely in the top few states in terms of having a lower homicide rate.

These are all good signs. These are all good signs, but the entire picture is not as positive. When we look at index crimes, which measures serious crimes, but are not just shootings and murders, its other serious crimes, that's actually up 21 percent. We see that from 2021 to 2022. Again, a trend that we're trying very hard to put in the other direction, but it's not there yet. But a lot of it has to do with serious crimes like car theft. I mean, that is a huge driver of why these numbers are spiking up. And so overall, it's heading in the wrong direction. Index crime, again, is up 21 percent, as I mentioned.

And let's look at historic trends. You know, you can see the context here. This is important. This goes back to 1965, so we're nowhere near the numbers we were in the seventies and eighties and the nineties, you know, which is the peak of the hill there. But we want to make sure that that little blip going upward, starts going the other direction. It has to go in the other direction. That's what we're focused on.

So, it's clear there's much more work to do because New Yorkers deserve a criminal justice system that prioritizes both safety and justice. And I know the whole system suffered during the pandemic because of both the increase in crime on the one hand, but also a slowdown in our courts — both going on simultaneously. And that is what we're dealing with today. So, dealing with the courts, again, we have to expedite the response, the full return to a robust criminal justice system to process people sooner. Those who need to be in court, are in court. Those who don't need to be are dealt with the way they're supposed to be. But we cannot rest until every single New Yorker feels safe in their homes, in their streets, on the subway, their places of work. And we have to not stop until every single category of crime is down.

That's why in my State of the State address, I put public safety front and center. We talked about historic investments, $337 million to reduce and prevent gun violence. We're focusing on youth employment programs. I've heard about this in every city I've gone to. We give these kids something else to do, not just the summer programs, but continue employment programs throughout the year for them, even if it's just a few hours a week. The time they spend with an adult can make a huge difference in whether or not they continue with their studies and get a job or whether or not they take the wrong path. So, we're focused on taking care of our young people.

Also, communities that have been under siege, we're putting $70 million for communities to respond in the aftermath of gun violence. I mean, we thought about this after what happened in Buffalo, the East Side of Buffalo. This was a city that was traumatized, but you realize this happens not just in the aftermath of a mass shooting, but it's the day to day to day. Children afraid to go down the street to school, or parents afraid to let their kids out the door to go to the playground or go to their work. So, this is the trauma that we're trying to address as well, recognizing it has a true effect on the psychology of a community. So, we're focusing on that as well.

We're also focusing on $31 million for crime reduction, youth justice and gain prevention programs. Again, a holistic approach to how we can talk about and have real effect on driving down crime. As well as $25 million for the SNUG Street Outreach Program, which again, I've had a lot of experience with and they're very, very successful. And because we've seen these working so successfully, we're proposing the largest investment ever in the State's Gun-Involved Violence Initiative, doubling it from $18 million, which was an increase from the previous year, up to $36 million for the next year's budget.

Also going to bolster our state police operations, increasing our community stabilization units. Also, for local police, increasing that from 16 to 25. Also, we need more police officers overall. I've talked to so many mayors and a long time ago, those academy classes were packed. Everybody wanted to join the academy and have that shot of possibly being hired to join local law enforcement or state law enforcement.

That trend has changed dramatically. We have to change that whole circumstance, and part of it was increasing the number of academy classes. I was told we can only handle two. And I said, "I bet we can do four." So, we are going to be having four state academy classes and help us get the word out about how people can serve their communities, and one of the most impactful ways is protecting them after they put on a uniform.

So, we're also expanding our federal task forces and not stopping there. Our prosecutors need help as they've been underfunded for a long time, so we're proposing to help them play their role in the process by increasing funding from $12 million to $52 million and increasing coordination among all law enforcement agencies and making sure they have the technology, technology that's available but is expensive so they can fight crime.

So, we need to support our law enforcement so we can return to the levels that we had back before the pandemic. But one of the big issues I want to talk about, as part of our budget negotiations, is how we can further improve our bail laws. First, let me say this, I've said it before, said it all last year. I said it in my State of the State. I'll say it again: I've always supported the underlying premise behind bail reform — full stop — because I don't believe that someone's wealth should be the determining factor on whether or not they're incarcerated before convicted of a crime. When you're simply looking at whether or not someone accused of a low-level offense, they have money. Parents post bail. They're back in class. They're back at school. Their life has some disruption, but not the same as someone whose family does not have money, or they don't have money, and they're sitting in Rikers or sitting behind bars because they can't post the bail. That was the injustice that was behind the whole effort to eliminate parts of the bail laws.

Now, that was something — I supported that element of it. But since the bail laws were passed in 2019, there have been a number of revisions. That's not a sign of the original bill's failure. It's a sign of our collective commitment to get it right, to get it right. And so, what we're seeing is despite violent felonies, gun possession, offenses, and repeat offenses being bail eligible, sometimes judges are not setting bail in these cases. And they're remanding in defendants into custody. Some judges are saying there's a disparity in the law. Now, they're right about this. If you look at the law in its face, part of the consideration is what they call the least restrictive standard, which says you're supposed to simply look at and only look at whether or not someone is more likely to return to court for their next court appearance.

So, that's all the judge is supposed to look at in that one section. This contradicts a section of the same law which give judges factors to consider in determining whether or not an individual should be released or not. Do they violate an order of protection? Do they have past criminal conviction? Is there a history of gun use?

So, the judges, their confusion is understandable. I want to remove any question about whether a judge has discretion to set bail or remand individuals, meaning hold them if they're accused of a serious crime. I want to make it absolutely clear that judges have both the authority and the accountability for these important decisions, and that's why I proposed a very simple change: Removing the least restrictive standards for the serious crimes and repeat offenses that the legislature has already deemed eligible for bail.

That's the only category we're talking about. I want to make that - I should make it clear that we're not incarcerating people for low level crimes or criminalizing poverty but giving judges the discretion necessary to ensure public safety. And public opinion is clearly on the side of this clarification for judges. It's just common sense. It's supported by most New Yorkers, and the data is also with us. And the data is also with us. We look at the recent studies from John Jay College, the New York City Criminal Justice Agency, and others. They show that bail reform is working for the lower-level offenses that are not eligible for bail, where recidivism has actually gone down. Okay?

Lower-level offenses, recidivism — meaning repeat offenders — has actually gone down. But for violent felonies, we are seeing an uptick in recidivism — people reoffending while they're out and even bigger increases for recidivism for defendants with serious crimes. Let's look at these numbers. Our own data, which we're just releasing today, mirrors the trends that were just revealed in those other studies. Rearrests are increasing for people with violent felonies while they're decreasing for people charged with other offenses. In other words, a relatively small percentage of people are responsible for a disproportion share of our public safety challenges. These individuals are the ones who are the focus of our bail proposal.

Again, look at the numbers. The blue being the individuals who have at least one violent felony offense, those who've committed three arrests, four arrests, even five arrests, since they've been released, up 77 percent for that category. That's a lot of people recommitting crimes. But for people with other offenses, the lower-level offenses that we're trying to deal with, the recidivism rate is going down, so it's working. They're not reoffending. We have to understand there's two different categories of offenders. That's what we're talking about in our bail changes.

It's common sense and we will not sacrifice the progress we've made in ensuring that our overall justice system is more just. I believe it's the right thing to do, and I'm looking forward to working with the legislature on this important change. I look forward to a continued partnership with all of you, our elected leaders, those who wear a uniform, those who put their lives on the line to make sure we can live safely in the State of New York. I want to make sure that we work together in a smart, common-sense way to make sure that all New Yorkers not only feel safe and secure but are safe and secure.

Thank you very much.