Law enforcement officials met at the New York State Police Academy on Thursday for the first session of an expanded interstate task force aimed at sharing intelligence about illegal gun trafficking and coordinating investigations across state lines.
Nearly 100 representatives from state, local and federal agencies attended, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul's announcement. The governor directed the task force to reconvene in July in response to what her administration describes as federal firearm-regulation rollbacks. The release does not identify a specific federal change discussed at Thursday's meeting.
Agencies share trafficking intelligence
Hochul first convened the Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns in January 2022. The expanded group includes New York State Police, the New York City Police Department, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and law enforcement agencies from neighboring and other states.
Its work centers on exchanging information about trafficking networks, connecting investigations that cross state borders and identifying opportunities to cooperate on new or ongoing cases. State Police Superintendent Steven James said that cooperation can help agencies act on information more quickly. Maryland and Delaware are among the participating states.
The release does not identify a new joint operation, arrest or seizure resulting from this meeting.
State points to violence-prevention efforts
The administration said it has committed nearly $4 billion to public safety initiatives since Hochul took office, including more than $1 billion for gun violence prevention. It cited a 67% reduction over five years in shooting incidents involving injury across the 28 communities in the state's Gun Involved Violence Elimination initiative. That figure applies to those participating communities, not all of New York.
The governor also highlighted provisions in this year's enacted state budget addressing gun technology. The budget established a process for minimum safety standards for 3D printers sold in New York, made unlawful possession, sale or distribution of digital blueprints for firearm production a crime, and restricted sales of pistols that can readily be converted into illegal machine guns. The task force meeting itself did not enact those changes.
Hochul said cross-state cooperation is needed to keep up with traffickers. The participating agencies are expected to continue sharing investigative strategies and looking for cases on which they can work together; the governor's release gives no date for the next meeting.
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