Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces $100 Million State Investment in Law Enforcement Technology and Equipment

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced a $100 million state investment in law enforcement technology and equipment. As part of this investment, $75 million is available for police departments and sheriffs’ offices to improve technology and modernize equipment, allowing them to more effectively solve and prevent crime, and improve officer and community safety. Another $25 million will fund a new, statewide records management system, replacing a decades-old platform to improve information sharing and streamline reporting. This new investment in the state’s LETECH Grant Program builds upon $127 million previously awarded through the program to 378 agencies from Western New York to Long Island, and is included in the FY27 Enacted Budget, which sustains record-level funding for public safety initiatives statewide.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor’s Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

First of all, I want to say how proud I am to be back here. This is an extraordinary community, and to have a chance to walk through this building, 100 years old, needed an expansion, which we're working on, but also to have a chance to thank members of law enforcement, the 108 members who put their lives on the line every single day to protect this community and other residents of Long Island. And I'm just always grateful, always grateful, and I want to thank our Mayor for hosting me here today. Robert Kennedy's done an extraordinary job here, and I know the people appreciate, I appreciate the strong relationship that you have with our administration. Joe Popcun from my administration as well. And of course, our Assemblymember, Judy Griffin, incredible voice that you have up in Albany. A strong advocate for this area as well. And Debra Mulé, our County Legislator, and of course Moms Demand Action, I appreciate your advocacy on behalf of the families that are often affected by gun violence and band together toward a common cause of changing laws to protect other families from having to endure what perhaps some of you have. Also, our head of law enforcement, our Chief, Michael Smith, and our Chief, Brian Paladino, the Chief of the Nassau County Municipal Chiefs Association.

Happy to be here. Happy to be. I see you have nice summer Long Island weather waiting for me — I'll talk about that later. But it's also just to say I've spent over 30 years in government. Many, many, many years in local law enforcement. I've hired chiefs of police, I've expanded police operations that I've supported, I've interviewed countless individuals to see what they, if they have what it took to become a member of our police force. And so, I spent a lot of time on this, and it's really important to me to use my knowledge of the work that's done here on the ground, and to find ways as Governor now that I can support those efforts in ways that were really not done when I was in local government.

We didn't have that kind of relationship with Albany, where people had served, had understood how important it is to give them the tools so they can get the job done. So I'm trying really hard and investing money since 2021 to give the best crime-fighting tools possible based on the latest technology. That takes money, $127 million already to upgrade technology at over 375 agencies. And right here on Long Island, over $21 million to help local police departments be able to purchase equipment that they otherwise would not be able to, or else the burden would be put on their local taxpayers. And so that is the difference that we're making every day here.

And that also includes $387,000 for the Freeport Police Department. And some of that cutting-edge technology is right here on display, and it's making a difference. I had a chance to go downstairs and watch directly how they're keeping track of license plates. Over 170,000 license plates are read every single day here. That's extraordinary. And it comes up that this is a revoked license or stolen vehicle or a stolen plate right there, and it was very impressive to see, as well as the spot shooter. You can, I don't know what happened during the fireworks, because you've certainly — a lot of noise went off. But this literally shows exactly where a gunshot is fired, and it zooms in so the police can respond in real time to apprehend an individual or to investigate what has happened.

So that is the power of technology at its best, and I came here to put a spotlight, because I know that you have deployed this for so many years, and have made a real difference in why your crime rates are so much dramatically lower, down 56 percent, Mayor, is that —

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Now that's extraordinary, because some areas of the country, the crime rates are going up 56 percent, but right here on Long Island, right here in the State of New York, those are numbers that we're seeing elsewhere as well. It makes a difference when you make these investments in local police. And for example last summer, the Freeport officers chased a suspect into a building on Rose Street, and usually when someone goes into a building, you lose sight of them, and you don't know what they're doing, and it becomes rather dangerous for law enforcement to go into the unknown. That person could be hiding anywhere in the building with any kind of weapon. You just have no idea.

But in this case, they used a drone to track the individual up on the roof, so they knew exactly where he was, and they were able to apprehend the individual safely for themselves and other members of the community. Another time, someone was trying to hit a Suffolk County police officer with a car, and within hours, that person was in custody because guess what? The license plate reader could talk about or could identify where this person was before anyone was hurt. So that's the difference, and that's why I'm so vested in this program, and I'm announcing an additional $100 million today. So sign up for your next grants, everybody, as you've done here successfully. $75 million for the way we've been doing it traditionally. That's going to fund over 500 agencies outside of New York City.

That again, for smaller communities to not have to worry about these expenses, but you know that technology's out there, and you want to have it, and it's just sometimes so unaffordable, we can help make the difference in solving crimes and sometimes between life and death.

And I remember visiting one police department, and they literally had just received the drone technology that we funded one week earlier, had activated, and an individual literally wandered away during a snowstorm from a nursing home, someone with dementia. And that person actually wandered into the woods and was buried under the snow. This brand-new drone technology was able to spotlight that person with infrared, identify them and get them back to safety. So that's what I'm talking about. That's why I get so excited about this, knowing the possibilities and how the training required, but also the people like here in Freeport who step up and say, "Sign us up. Sign us up. We want to be part of that."

So anything from drones and radar guns and 3D crime scene laser scanners and acoustic gunshot detection systems, modernizing their call centers, as well as training. Training's critically important. So I want to announce that all the agencies, the police departments, have until September 2nd to apply. If you've not been a beneficiary before, please step up. You cannot imagine the difference that it'll make in your community.

And we're not stopping just equipment for one department or one agency. What I realized is that we need to have statewide, a statewide system for records. I'm sure every member of the law enforcement community standing with me here today would tell you how frustrating and exasperating it is all the time spent record keeping, tracking data, when they want to be out there doing the work of protecting the community. So we're going to be developing, with $25 million, you hear it here first, a new statewide record system for local law enforcement so they can spend less time on paperwork and more time on protecting the members of the community. And that's something that was requested by local chiefs of police and sheriffs and DAs, and we said yes.

What they want to do is replace outdated platforms and help them accomplish the important goals they have. So with this tool, we can have over 500 agencies be able to share comprehensive information in real time and really surface leads, investigative leads. Often the criminals, especially if they're in a vehicle, don't know the boundaries. So one crime may be committed in one community, they head across the border to another one, there's a whole different set of police officers that are tracking it. They don't have the knowledge of what went on before, except now they will, and that's why I'm making this investment. It'll make a huge difference in our crime fighting strategies and so New Yorkers will be safer.

Again, it's $100 million to give men and women in law enforcement the tools they need and make sure that they have the very best. Overall, we have spent $3 billion from the State of New York since I've been Governor on law enforcement, public safety, having to change some laws that really were long overdue, needing reform. We instituted more common sense bail laws and discovery reforms that were resulting — before we changed them — so many cases were being dismissed, especially domestic violence cases were being dismissed, 90 percent being dismissed, because of the discovery laws that were put in place earlier. So we had to work together and take on these hard issues, but make a difference that I know will keep dangerous criminals and repeat offenders off the streets.

And also ghost guns. I don't know if you've seen many ghost guns here in this community, but we are getting ahead of this as well. Part of our Budget, we enacted strong reforms with support of Assemblymember Griffin here to say we'll be the first in the nation to ban 3D printers that are capable of creating ghost guns. If you're not familiar with this concept, literally criminals can sit at their kitchen table and manufacture, with a 3D printer, a lethal weapon, and it also additional parts that are this big, the size of a Lego, that can be used as an enhancement to a Glock that can create the capabilities of 1,200 rounds per second, or is it a minute? I'm not sure. 1,200 rounds. And that's mass murder. That is mass killings. That is something that every parent who has a child at school is terrified of. We're going to stop that here in the state of New York, first in the nation. I highly recommend that others follow as well.

We're expanding our crime analysis centers, tracking the toughest cases and also engaging local community groups, the ones who are involved in Stop the Violence, engaging young people and before they make those wrong decisions, and open up opportunities for all of them as well. So the way I look at it, it's a very holistic public safety strategy: Deal with the young people, give them better diversions and more healthy activities, help with those who've already committed crimes, rehabilitate them, but also be willing to make the tough decisions and have all the law enforcement technology they need.

So again, law enforcement is doing an incredible job. Crime on Long Island is down 22 percent compared to 2022 when I first took office. That is a dramatic drop. And this year we're continuing the momentum. Crime on Long Island is down 11 percent compared with last year. And we're just showing across the state the same numbers. Shootings, murders, way, way down. And I'll say this: We're never satisfied with this level of progress because any time it can change and start heading upwards. So we're always vigilant, always prepared, never taking for granted the success we've had because it is something that must be worked on day by day, literally hour by hour.

And I'm committed to that. I'm committed to keeping this state as safe as possible and knowing that we're going to continue our support for local law enforcement because they are literally on the front lines of protecting their communities. So their job is never done, and I'm there to be your best ally.

So in conclusion, I wanted to say: Freeport is an amazing place to live and raise a family. It is beautiful, whether it's that lazy Sunday stroll along the Nautical Mile, it's so gorgeous, or taking the kids to play at Cow Meadow Park, maybe kicking a couple soccer balls around, dreaming of being on the US team themselves. But also the incredible schools and the neighborhoods we have. It just would not be possible if we did not have that foundation of safety. You have to feel secure before you let the kids go to a park, before you take that walk, and that is what individuals here that I'm here to thank and show my appreciation for do every single day.

So I thank them and also thank all of you for caring enough to participate in an event that talks about how we can do even more to protect this beloved community. Thank you very much. Let me turn it over to Chief Michael Smith, who knows more about this technology than anybody, who will explain exactly how it is being used.