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Gov. Hochul expanding outreach program amid rising violence

Governor Kathy Hochul delivers a COVID-19 briefing in the Red Room at the State Capitol.
Mike Groll
/
Office of the Governor
Governor Kathy Hochul delivers a COVID-19 briefing in the Red Room at the State Capitol.

A state program to reduce gun violence is expanding, and central New York will play a big role in that plan.

The SNUG program includes mentoring, social work, and community outreach to try to help people avoid violence and find a new purpose.

“Many grow up in a neighborhood where they don’t see a role model that’s been successful,” said Gov. Kathy Hochul. “They only know the streets from their father, perhaps, or older brothers, and it becomes a cycle of violence because they don’t think they have other options.”

Jerome Brown said SNUG turned his life around. He joined the team himself, first working as a violence interrupter in the community and now as a supervisor to help others.

"They won't have to go to prison,” Brown said. “They won't have to go to a graveyard. They won't have to bring these traumatic experiences to their families."

Brown spoke at a training session for new SNUG workers at the State Preparedness Training Center in Oriskany.

Hochul said gun violence is an epidemic, so she wants to triple the state’s investment in SNUG to almost $25 million. That includes sending new workers to cities that already have the program, including Syracuse, and expanding the program to Utica, Schenectady, and Niagara Falls.

"There's too much grief going on in our society now,” said Hochul. “We came through a really tough time with the pandemic. Two solid years of people being constrained and not having the normal support system, and now a lot of people are taking anger and anxiety out in the streets."

Hochul listed the fight against gun violence as a priority in her State of the State Address earlier this year, mentioning the SNUG program and also launching an interstate consortium to track illegal guns.

Jessica Cain is a freelance reporter for WRVO, covering issues around central New York. Most recently, Jessica was a package producer at Fox News in New York City, where she worked on major news events, including the 2016 presidential conventions and election. Prior to that, she worked as a reporter and anchor for multiple media outlets in central and northern New York. A Camillus native, Jessica enjoys exploring the outdoors with her daughters, going to the theater, playing the piano, and reading.