ITHACA, N.Y. (WHCU) — Local law enforcement and elected officials are taking a closer look at crime. 

Tompkins County District Attorney Matt Van Houten says arrests so far in 2023 are up slightly from 2022, and Sheriff Derek Osborne notes there’s no rise in violent crimes.

Both spoke Thursday at the legislature’s Public Safety Committee meeting. Osborne says there’s been a gun problem in Ithaca “for a while.”

Earlier this month, Ithaca Police began investigating their first murder case of the year.