New York State has $13.1 million in grants under Operation IMPACT to 17 counties to fight violent crimes.
The funding allows municipalities to enhance police patrols and increase investigations to target high-crime areas.
Police departments in the 17 IMPACT counties reported that index crime was down 9 percent for the first four months of 2013, as compared to the same timeframe last year. The seven index crimes are murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft. They're used by the state and FBI to monitor overall crime trends.
Upstate cities receiving IMPACT grants include Albany, Schenectady, Troy, Kingston, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Syracuse, Binghamton, Jamestown, Rochester, Buffalo and Niagara Falls.
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