Between 2019 and 2020, the number of shootings in New York doubled – and murders in the Empire State were up almost 50% percent. Governor Andrew Cuomo has had enough and has decided to take action via executive order:
Cuomo (July 6): "Today, the first state in the nation [to do so], is going to declare a disaster emergency on gun violence …. [This will] free up money and free up programs so that we can get it on the street."
Just before Tuesday's announcement, Gov. Cuomo tweeted: "Gun violence is a public health crisis" – and mentioned during the briefing that the state has pledged $138 million for his initiative.
Joe Gamaldi is vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police. He told "Fox & Friends" the governor is completely missing the point.
"Nowhere in the governor's plan did he actually address what's driving our violent crime – and that is rogue prosecutors and activist judges who are letting out violent criminals over and over and over again," Gamaldi exclaimed.
"A recent study out of Chicago said that the people actually pulling the trigger – the gang members – have been arrested an average of 12 times prior to that," the FOP spokesman added.
Some Democrats seem to just be waking up to the problem. A little more than a week ago, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dismissed the crime increase as hysteria:
Ocasio-Cortez: "We are seeing these headlines about percentage increases. But I also want to make sure that this hysteria – that this doesn't drive a hysteria and that we look at these numbers in context."
While he's not a fan of Cuomo's response, Gamaldi admitted he's "glad that someone's finally acknowledging the violent crime epidemic that's going on in our country."
