NY Gov. Hochul announces plan to increase police funding, add more officers

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Saturday that she aims to recruit more police officers to help manage their subway.

Hochul said that more funding would be made available for the New York Police department (NYPD) and transit officers along with crisis intervention training for new and existing officers and CCTV in every subway car.

Her announcement comes as she is currently neck and neck with her Republican opponent Lee Zeldin, whose campaign is largely focused on New York’s increasing crime rate.

Hochul, said during press conference that the safety plan has been in the works for some time and is “not something we’ve started thinking about recently.”

“My first priority as governor is to protect New Yorkers,” Hochul further wrote Twitter. “Through this strategy — adding more officers, installing more cameras and providing more care — we will fight subway crime and keep riders safe.”

According to state records, New York’s crime is increasing on nearly every front, with the exception being homicide. Zeldin has hit out at both Hochul’s “soft on crime” policies and also their lax bail system.