New York state government is trying to make streets safer with a recent announcement by Gov. Kathy Hochul of a $20.7 million investment in the SNUG anti-gun violence program. The funds will assist 14 communities throughout the state.
Ali George grew up facing gun violence.
“I had a brother that got killed," he said. "And then I had a brother that ended up getting incarcerated.”
Today, he uses that trauma to act as a mediator on the streets of the Hudson Valley. He's an outreach responder with SNUG, an anti-gun violence program that seeks to defuse situations in neighborhoods before they turn deadly.
“I'm actually making an impact in people's lives," George said. "From the little things of them being more confident within who they are as individuals, giving people power to have self-awareness and understand that it's OK to be different.”
SNUG is funded through the state’s GIVE Initiative. The governor’s office recently announced that GIVE-involved communities have seen gun violence decline to the lowest number on record last year. Shooting incidents with injuries have declined by 28%.
Albany County District Attorney Lee Kindlon attributes it to collaboration around the state.
“It's a multifaceted approach," Kindlon said. "Interdiction, prevention and then prosecution to try and get those gun numbers down.”
The steady decline of gun violence in New York has allowed programs like SNUG to be more proactive instead of reactive. That means getting involved in schools and other community spaces where relationships can form before conflict arises.
“Some people think that, 'oh, all right, this can happen to you, it doesn’t mean it can happen to me,' " George said. "But a lot of times, it happens to all of us regardless, no matter when, what time frame; sooner or later, it still happens.”
State data also found that SNUG communities experienced a 25% decrease in the number of shooting victims – 238 fewer individuals were harmed by gun violence last year.
The upstate communities that will be helped by the investment in SNUG include:
- Albany (Trinity Alliance of the Capital Region and Albany Medical Center)
- Troy (Trinity Alliance)
- Newburgh (Regional Economic Community Action Plan)
- Poughkeepsie (Family Services Inc.)
- Syracuse (Syracuse Model Neighborhood Facility and SUNY Upstate Medical Center)
- Utica (Integrated Community Alternatives Network)
- Rochester (PathStone Corp. and Rochester General Hospital)
- Buffalo (Erie County Medical Center)
- Niagara Falls (Community Missions of Niagara Frontier)