Nojay: Gun Tip Line Bounty Program is Attack on Upstate Gun Owners, Sends Letter to DCJS in Opposition

March 21, 2013

Assemblyman Bill Nojay (R,I-Pittsford) was shocked to learn about the disturbing details in a leaked memo sent by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services to the State Association of Chiefs of Police. In response, Nojay has sent a letter to Michael Green, Executive Deputy Commissioner of the Division of Criminal Justice Services, asking him to terminate the newly-expanded program.

The memo described a tip line that residents can use to anonymously report their neighbors for illegal firearm possession. If information provided leads to an arrest, the “tipster” will be awarded $500. According to the memo, this program is also uniquely targeted at Upstate New York, with a plan to roll out a “comprehensive campaign” to spread the word, which will include “public service announcements that will air on television and radio stations across Upstate.”

“The program described in this leaked memo is truly disturbing. A year ago, this program was designed for urban communities with high rates of gun violence. Now, they are specifically targeting the law-abiding citizens of Upstate by trying to turn neighbors into informants,” said Nojay. “The governor can claim that this program is old news, but he has just made countless guns illegal that can now be phoned in on this tip line. He is raising the stakes in his assault on the rights of law-abiding citizens.”

Nojay’s letter to Executive Deputy Commissioner Green, which is attached, calls on him to “terminate the newly revised and expanded informant program known as the Gun Tip Line.” He notes that the program was designed exclusively for areas with high rates of gun violence and that the new expansion does not target gun violence. Its only purpose is to try to enforce the unenforceable SAFE Act.

Nojay also notes that it is wrong for the state police to oversee local law enforcement’s follow-up on every tip because it is offensive to the independence of local law enforcement and is a radical expansion of state power.

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