Andrew Cuomo on Homeland Security

	Andrew Cuomo on Homeland Security Democratic Governor

Counterterrorism unit to be moved to NY state police

Last year I asked former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly to do a security audit and tell us the best way to defend ourselves and the state's counterterrorism operations. Commissioner Ray Kelly recommends moving the state's counterterrorism operations to the New York State Police to improve intelligence sharing and reduce response time. I believe that recommendation makes sense. I'm going to recommend it in this budget. Source: 2016 State of the State speech to New York legislature , Jan 13, 2016

State Police need more gear

Terrorist attacks no longer mean just airplanes and buildings. More and more, attacks include heavily armed individuals, active shooters in shopping malls. To ensure that our State Police have the right equipment to respond to these situations I propose $4 million to provide every on-duty uniformed State Trooper with better weapons, body armor and tactical helmets. Source: 2016 State of the State speech to New York legislature , Jan 13, 2016

$80M investment in emergency response

Conduct a review of our counter-terrorism capacity
Invest $15 million to open the nation's first emergency preparedness college
Creating a $15 million Statewide Targeted Operations Response Management (STORM) online system to coordinate federal, State & local efforts.
Strengthen local governments in state-of-the-art emergency response techniques
Invest $50 million in new emergency vehicles and GPS systems

Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature , Jan 21, 2015

$15M for nation's 1st college dedicated to homeland security

Governor Cuomo last month earmarked $15 million in his state budget proposal for what he called "the nation's first college dedicated solely to emergency preparedness and homeland security."

New York has had nine federally declared disasters in three years and that it is a potential target for man-made threats. "New York must have a world-class emergency response network, and the new college will help train aspiring professionals, policy leaders, emergency managers and first responders," Cuomo's spokesperson said.

Lawmakers are generally in support of investing more money in preparing the state for natural and man-made disasters, but some question whether a new college for homeland security is the answer. Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, the chairwoman of the Assembly's higher-education committee, said that among her concerns is that there are already schools with related programs, among them John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Long Island University, and Adelphi University.

Source: Homeland Security Newswire: 2014 N. Y. gubernatorial race , Feb 21, 2014

Dubious about new power to interrogate and detain

As a general rule, Republicans tend to overestimate national security threats and Democrats underestimate them. This is a time when most Americans would rather be safe than sorry and are more receptive to Republicans. Because Republicans have mostly been in charge at all levels of government post-9/11, the Republican response has been a blizzard of activity, not all of it helpful: the creation of a new Washington bureaucracy, daily alerts utilizing colors of the rainbow, and dubious new federal powers to detain and interrogate Americans and others indefinitely without indictment or counsel. Since September 11, Democrats have made important points concerning port defense and other isolated priorities but have failed to approach the problem with the urgency or comprehensiveness that it demands. Nor have there been any real efforts to debate the toll taken on our values and our right as a society by the new federal detention powers. Source: Crossroads, by Andrew Cuomo, p. 68 , Oct 14, 2003