Gangs have left their marks all over the streets of the city of Newburgh.
By Nancy Peckenham
The city of Newburgh is in line to receive more federal resources to fight drug trafficking and gang violence following today’s announcement that Orange County has been designated a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand, along with Congressman Maurice Hinchey announced that the Obama administration’s Office of National Drug Control Policy made the designation after the three lobbied for a year in favor of it.
The change will allow law enforcement agencies to design specific initiatives to reduce or eliminate the production, manufacture, transportation, distribution and chronic use of illegal drugs and money laundering.
According to Rep. Hinchey’s office, Newburgh has seen disproportionally high rates of assaults and murders per capita in the last several years, making the city among the most violent in the nation per capita.
Approximately 14 percent of U.S. counties, in 45 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia, have been designated as High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas.
“This is a great victory for the residents of Newburgh who have become the unfortunate victims of drug and gang violence,” Hinchey said in a press release. “This designation is going to help address the drug and gang violence that has left its mark on Newburgh so that the city can experience the revitalization it desperately needs.”
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