64% Drop in Bullet-to-Body Shootings; 22% Reduction in All Violent Crime Following “Operation Bandemic” in November 2022
The City of Newburgh Police Department is pleased to highlight a major violent crime reduction, including a dramatic 64% drop in bullet-to-body shootings and a 22% drop in all violent crime, following “Operation Bandemic,” a joint operation with the FBI’s Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force and New York State Police that took twenty-eight violent gang members off the street since November 2022. The City also achieved a 20% reduction in property crimes during this same period1.
City Manager Todd Venning: “The City of Newburgh is grateful for the partnership and commitment of the United States Department of Justice and Governor Kathy Hochul in supporting our successful efforts to reduce crime across the City. The numbers tell the story.”
The City of Newburgh Police Department reports crime data on a weekly basis to the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), which verifies the reported data and makes it publicly available through a searchable online database. DCJS then reports this data to the United States Department of Justice. Additionally, the City of Newburgh uploads full arrest reports to its website every week.
Last week, Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler advanced a baseless conspiracy theory fabricated by a News 12 television presenter that the City is falsifying crime and arrest data.
City of Newburgh Police Commissioner José Gomérez: “The City of Newburgh fully reports all crime data to DCJS and the United States Department of Justice as required by state and federal laws and agreements. Our data is verified and made public through multiple independent sources. It is alarming that an experienced law enforcement professional would not understand basic crime reporting requirements.”
City Manager Todd Venning: “Legitimate reporters from well-credentialed news organizations don’t always get it right, so it’s not surprising to see a local television personality struggle with basic tenets of professional journalism. But unless that person is acting out of actual malice, it’s obvious even to the most casual observer that Operation Bandemic, which took twenty-eight dangerous criminals off the street, had the intended effect - a dramatic reduction in violent crime. We are grateful to the FBI’s Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force for their continued commitment to our community.” Venning continued, “The City will explore its legal options against this presenter and News 12 for its reckless disregard of the truth.”
The Newburgh City Council issued a joint statement addressing the conspiracy theory advanced by News 12 and Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler:
“Any suggestion that the City of Newburgh Police Department is not in full compliance with all crime reporting requirements under state and federal laws is a deluded, reckless, egregious lie that calls into question District Attorney Hoovler’s integrity, and his continued fitness to serve. The people of Orange County deserve better than a District Attorney using his position to pay back political contributors on his way out of office.”
More information about Operation Bandemic:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/fourteen-gang-members-and-associates-newburgh-and-poughkeepsie-charged-racketeering
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/fourteen-gang-members-and-associates-double-nine-grim-reapers-charged-racketeering
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services – Index Crime by Agency:
https://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/tableau_index_crime_by_agency.htm
City of Newburgh Online Weekly Arrest Reports:
https://www.cityofnewburgh-ny.gov/Archive.aspx?AMID=59&Type=&ADID=
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1 November 1, 2022 – February 28, 2023