New York, N.Y. (WBEN) - New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Monday that in response to a rise in hate crimes and incidents of harassment, the State of New York will increase staffing to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Hochul has directed an additional $2.5 million to the New York State Police to deploy 10 additional investigators in New York City, Albany, Buffalo and Rochester, ensuring the State Police has a presence in all JTTF investigative groups and areas.
The Governor says this is her latest effort to fight hate in all its forms after the Hamas terror attacks, which have been followed by a reported increase in Antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents.
“I immediately deployed the New York State Police on Oct. 7 to protect at-risk communities and we have continued our laser focus on public safety since then,” Gov. Hochul said. “Surging resources to the Joint Terrorism Task Force is a critical step to ensure New Yorkers are protected from domestic and international threats.”
The total number of bias incidents investigated by the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force increased by 124% in October, led by a 214% spike in anti-Jewish incidents. Anti-Muslim incidents increased in October from 0-to-8 incidents. Overall, hate crime investigations year to date continued their downward trend with a decrease of 9%.
There have been a number of high-profile attacks on Muslim and Palestinian New Yorkers, with hate crimes against Asian New Yorkers remaining elevated over the past few years.
Hochul adds the new investment will allow the New York State Police to act as a force-multiplier for the JTTF, ensuring that all cases with New York State ties are thoroughly examined and investigated. "It will also strengthen ties already existing between the JTTF and the New York State Intelligence Center Counter-Terrorism Center, allowing for greater involvement in investigations into Racially Motivated Violent Extremists, Domestic Violent Extremist groups, Anti-Government/Anti-Authority Violent Extremists, as well as into conspiracy theories & disinformation/misinformation," Hochul said.