Gov. Kathy Hochul was in Buffalo on Thursday to announce that communities participating in New York State’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative reported the lowest levels of shooting incidents on record last year.
Year-end data shows that shooting incidents with injury, the number of individuals shot, and gun violence-related deaths across the 28 GIVE agencies, which includes Niagara Falls, all reached record lows statewide, Hochul said. Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse reported double-digit percentage declines in key gun violence indicators in 2025, contributing to a 61 percent statewide reduction in gun violence since Hochul took office in 2021.
“These numbers reflect real progress for families and communities across New York who deserve to be safe and to feel safe where they live, work, and raise their families,” Hochul said. “Public safety remains a top priority for my administration, and we will continue investing in the strategies and partnerships that are delivering results and strengthening communities statewide.”
Entering its 13th year, the program, a successor to Operation Impact, has brought millions of dollars into Niagara Falls and Niagara County as part of a comprehensive crime-fighting strategy known as Problem-Oriented Policing (POP).
GIVE funding pays for the costs of two dedicated gun violence crime analysts at the Niagara Intelligence & Crime Analysis Center (NICAC), a Falls Police detective assigned exclusively to handle gun-related investigations, along with two assistant Niagara County District Attorneys and a paralegal who works only on firearms cases.
In addition, state officials are working to address the threat of 3D printed guns.
“We are going to pass a law I just introduced that require all 3D printers to include software that blocks the printer from creating a gun,” Hochul said. “We outlawed 3D printed guns, now we’re saying any 3D printer sold in the state of New York must have software that blocks the capability to even create these deadly machines.”