ITHACA, N.Y. (WHCU) — Two elected officials in Tompkins County are addressing safety concerns in Ithaca.

District Attorney Matt Van Houten tells WHCU the city is a safe place.

Sheriff Derek Osborne agrees.

Van Houten says arrests are up only slightly so far this year over 2022. The DA also tells WHCU what his office has been seeing the past couple years.

When it comes to guns in Ithaca, Sheriff Osborne says that issue is nothing new.

Osborne says his office is working with the DA, Ithaca Police, and the county Probation Department on using the Gun Involved Violence Elimination or GIVE grant.

FULL INTERVIEW: Tompkins County Sheriff Derek Osborne and District Attorney Matt Van Houten on Ithaca’s Morning News