Safer Streets: Hochul says GIVE communities logged their fewest index crimes since 2017 through May (down 7%, murders down 48% to 41); NYC summer had record-low 195 shootings and 66 murders
Sept 3 release: the 28 GIVE police departments reported 29,654 index crimes Jan–May 2026 (down 7% from 31,752), 4,617 violent crimes (down 1%), 41 murders (down 48%), 830 robberies (down 17%), property crime down 8%. Eleven departments posted double-digit index-crime drops (Elmira, Greece, Hempstead, Jamestown, Kingston, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Spring Valley, Suffolk County, Utica). NYC June 1–Aug 31: 195 shooting incidents, 249 victims, 66 murders, each an NYPD record low for the period; August major crime down 6.6% (10,276 vs 11,000). Context: this is the fourth crime-stats release since Aug 14 as public safety becomes the campaign's central argument; the GIVE data covers only through May and only the 28 participating upstate/suburban departments, not statewide totals. Underlying DCJS table: governor.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2026-09/GIVE_Agencies_Index_Crime_Data_Jan.May_2017.2026.pdf.