ALBANY, N.Y. — Governor Andrew Cuomo announced new state police patrols in the capital city on Tuesday, part of his new statewide initiative to crack down on gang violence.
The governor chose to make his announcement in the eastern part of Upstate New York, where Albany and Troy were among the state's top five most violent cities per capita, in data available from 2015. The governor has directed New York State Police to devote 10 new trooper patrols to Albany, concentrated on the most high-risk areas of gang activity.
"These are just common thugs. That's all they are," Cuomo said of the gangs operating across New York. "They have to be rooted out and brought to justice. Period."
Last week, Cuomo made a similar announcement on Long Island, prompting the Port Authority police union to compare the state police to ancient Rome's "Praetorian Guard," a private police force that served at the will of the Roman emperor.
On Tuesday, Troop G Captain Robert Patnaude rebuffed the claim.
"We're not [the governor's] army," Patnaude said. "We work for the governor, we're law enforcement, we're professionals, and we direct our resources at problem areas."
Albany Police were similarly dismissive of the remarks, and not worried about the governor overstepping any boundaries by calling in state police reinforcements.
"Ten troopers is not an army," said Acting Chief Robert Sears. "Depending on how they're deployed, it will supplement what we do here."
In addition to the patrols, Cuomo announced close to $500,000 in new funding for the GIVE and SNUG programs, which work to combat and prevent gun violence at the community level. State police said they were evaluating Schenectady and Troy as places to deploy greater resources as well.