22 Illegally Possessed Handgun and 4 Illegally Possessed Long-Arms
Recovered by the City of Newburgh Police Since August 1, 2020
District Attorney’s Office and City of Newburgh Police Announce Multi-Agency Strategic Response Team to Continue to Investigate Gun Related Crimes After New York State
Fails to Renew Funding for “Non-Fatal Shooting” Grant
Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler and City of Newburgh Police Chief Arnold Amthor announced an initiative to stem non-fatal shootings and illegal handgun possession. Since August 1, 2020, City of Newburgh Police Officers have recovered 22 illegally possessed handgun and four illegally possessed rifles and shotguns. Despite the gun violence that continues to plague the City, the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services failed to renew grant funding for a “Non-Fatal Shooting” initiative that had paid the salary of a City of Newburgh Detective, a Criminal Investigator from the District Attorney’s Office and a crime analyst. Budgetary limitations likely drove the decision to eliminate the funding. The grant had been issued in recognition of the fact that non-fatal shooting investigations historically did not have the police resources devoted to them that homicide investigations do, and the City of Newburgh Police Department is generally so busy dealing with new crimes that it was difficult to have sufficient resources dedicated to investigate gun related crimes where an arrest had not been made shortly after the crime.
To help fill the void left by the loss of the funding District Attorney Hoovler and Chief Amthor announced the formation of Multi-Agency Strategic Response Team, “MAST”, which will be a coalition of various state, local and federal law enforcement agencies that will work collaboratively with the City of Newburgh Police Department to reduce and investigate non-fatal shootings and illegal weapons possession.
District Attorney Hoovler agreed to provide support from District Attorney’s office Criminal Investigators and Assistant District Attorneys. Additionally, the District Attorney’s Office will help coordinate the participation of the various agencies. District Attorney Hoovler thanked the City of Newburgh Police Department for their commitment to stem gun violence and applauded their eagerness to work with other law enforcement agencies. District Attorney Hoovler also thanked the all the law enforcement agencies that pledged to work on the initiative.
“As the twenty-two handguns recovered by the City of Newburgh Police Department since August demonstrate, City of Newburgh police officers have a difficult and dangerous job to do, and deserve all the assistance we can give them,” said District Attorney David M. Hoovler. “I applaud Chief Amthor for his willingness to work collaboratively with other law enforcement agencies. Residents of the City of Newburgh deserve to live peacefully without fear of gun violence. Budgetary limitations are real, but the safety of City residents must be of paramount importance. I thank all the State, Federal and local law enforcement agencies for joining us on this important initiative.”
Chief Arnold Amthor stated, “Since this past August, these handguns have been seized by City of Newburgh police officers under various circumstances. That these weapons were seized without injury or loss of life demonstrates the restraint and professionalism that these police officers exhibited daily, under at times very dangerous situations. I look forward to working with our law enforcement partners to address gun violence in our City.”