Amnesty program takes 900 guns out of circulation in Yonkers
(Yonkers) – City officials are calling it one of the most successful gun buy back programs in the country as the Yonkers City Police Department collected almost 900 firearms during a month-long gun amnesty program offered by Mayor Philip Amicone.
The anonymous, no questions asked program offered cash in return for guns — $200 per handgun, $100 per long gun — and gave city residents an easy way to get dangerous weapons out of their houses and off the streets.
“This is a small but significant victory in our continuing battle to get illegal guns off our streets,” said Amicone. “By no means is our work finished, but we can take some measure of satisfaction in knowing that there are almost 900 guns that will never be used in crimes against our citizens.”
The number of firearms collected totaled 890, of which 596 were handguns and 296 were shotguns or rifles. The city spent $147,700 on the program. State Senator Nicholas Spano had contributed $25,000 to offset the city expense.
Police Commissioner Robert Taggart Thursday also said 20 additional police officers have been added to the city’s force with another 20 to be hired in January 2007.
He also announced that over 100 arrests have been made by the city’s Safe Streets Task Force II since its inception in April. The task force covers the Third Precinct and parts of the Fourth Precinct. The Impact II program is currently targeting narcotics activity in the Nodine Hill area. Undercover operations have netted over 70 drug dealers this year. The department’s Gang Unit, the city’s Weed and Seed program and other programs are working to clean up the streets, the commissioner said.
