Overview

The nationally recognized Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative provides state funding to local law enforcement agencies for equipment, overtime, personnel, and provides comprehensive, focused training and technical assistance to those agencies. GIVE is a key component of New York State's comprehensive plan to reduce shootings and firearm-related violent crime, including homicides, in communities outside of New York City.

The initiative supports 28 police departments and district attorneys’ offices, probation departments and sheriffs’ offices in 21 counties: 

  • Albany (Albany PD)
  • Broome (Binghamton PD)
  • Cayuga (Auburn PD)
  • Chautauqua (Jamestown PD)
  • Chemung (Elmira PD)
  • Dutchess (Poughkeepsie PD)
  • Erie (Amherst, Buffalo, Cheektowaga, and Lackawanna PDs)
  • Jefferson (Watertown PD)
  • Monroe (Greece and Rochester PDs)
  • Nassau (Hempstead and Nassau County PDs)
  • Niagara (Niagara Falls PD)
  • Oneida (Utica PD)
  • Onondaga (Syracuse PD)
  • Orange (Middletown and Newburgh PDs)
  • Rensselaer (Troy PD)
  • Rockland (Spring Valley PD)
  • Schenectady (Schenectady PD)
  • Suffolk (Suffolk County PD)
  • Tompkins (Ithaca PD)
  • Ulster (Kingston PD)
  • Westchester (Mount Vernon and Yonkers PDs)

GIVE focuses on four core elements:

  • People – The strategy must focus preventative and enforcement efforts on top offenders who have been identified as being responsible for most shootings and homicides or firearm-related violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault).
  • Places – The strategy must focus preventative and enforcement efforts on the geographic locations (hot spots) where crime data and analysis demonstrate that most shootings and homicides or firearm-related violent crimes occur.
  • Alignment – The strategy must describe how partners will coordinate and align all existing resources in the community in an effort to reduce shootings and homicides or firearm-related violent crimes, where applicable.
  • Engagement – The strategy must clearly articulate how organized outreach to key stakeholders and the community at large will occur; how the stakeholders and community will be given a voice; and how coordination will occur in a transparent manner that fosters wide-ranging support for violence reduction efforts.

Success

  • Through June 2026, the 28 GIVE police departments collectively reported 197 shooting incidents involving injury, down 19% when compared to January - June 2025 (244).
  • In GIVE agencies, the number of individuals shot through June 2026 (223) decreased 20% when compared January - June 2025 (279).
  • Through June 2026, GIVE agencies reported 26 individuals killed by gun violence, down 48% when compared to January - June 2025 (50)

Gun Violence Data Dashboard

Strategy

Agencies participating in GIVE must use Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) as the framework for developing their comprehensive GIVE plan, incorporate procedural justice into all elements of the plan, and implement more than one of the following evidence-based strategies: hot-spots policing; focused deterrence; street outreach; and Crime Prevention through Environmental Design. New York is unique among states for its commitment to providing comprehensive training and technical support that helps these agencies implement proven practices and evidence-based strategies as intended.