NEWBURGH CRACKDOWN?

Below, is a press release from the office of Maurice Hinchey. Considering the level of crime in the Newburgh area has reached national attention over the last few months, I think it's well worth the action on the federal level. We haven't seen much from our State and local representatives who have jurisdiction in Orange County so its understandable that persons in higher office have to do something drastic.

Washington, DC - Building on the success of a recent sting operation that marshaled federal, state and local enforcement resources to indict 78 gang members in Newburgh, Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Congressman John Hall (D-NY), U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), today requested that action be taken to designate Orange County as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA).

The HIDTA designation, which would be granted by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), would enhance future coordination of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies by providing equipment, technology and additional resources to combat the drug trafficking on which these gangs thrive. The House and Senate members sent a letter to NY/NJ HIDTA Director Chauncey Parker requesting that he work with local law enforcement officials to initiate the petition process necessary to secure the designation. "As you know, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program allows for increased collaboration between the local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to increase communication and information sharing and allows for more effective policing," the House and Senate members wrote in a letter to Parker. "HIDTA is highly effective in its mission to funnel federal resources, such as equipment and technology, to counties with high crime and low resources.

It is crucial that Newburgh receive this designation and be eligible for the federal resources necessary to combat this ongoing problem of drug and gang-related violence in Newburgh." Relative to other municipalities across the country, Newburgh has seen disproportionally high rates of assaults and murders per capita in the last several years, making the city among the most violent in the nation per capita. The violence in this small city of 29,000 residents is so pronounced that it has drawn the attention of the Obama administration.

I would remind everyone here in Ulster County that what happens in Newburgh affects every municipality in the Hudson Valley. Crime has a way of creeping it's way into our neighborhoods and unless treated, will infect the whole region. As for Ulster, I think we have URGENT to thank for the delay in the northbound spread. Keep up the good work troops.

This of course begs the question; What do they actually do in Albany?