New York to begin sharing gun crime data with surrounding states

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — New York will begin sharing gun crime data with surrounding states in an effort to curb a spike in violence that’s happening across the country.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and the governors of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut signed a memorandum Thursday.

It will allow law enforcement from those states to share information in the hope of detecting and stopping criminals.

"What we have seen as a result of this pandemic is a spike in gun violence,” Hohcul said. “And I’m sure there will be psychologists that study this for a long time from now what that’s exactly attributed to. But we do know that the results are being seen on our streets and our communities. And our people deserve to have leadership, people that are going to work together to find solutions."

Law enforcement from each state will automatically begin sending reports to the others when a gun is put into their system.

This comes after a 30% spike in homicides between 2019 and 2020, the largest one-year jump since the Federal Bureau of Investigation began keeping track.