State Police Take Weapons And Drugs Off Utica Streets

A Utica man has been arrested on drug and weapons charges after the State Police Troop D Violent Gang and Narcotics Enforcement Team and Special Operations Response Team executed a search warrant on a home in Utica.

Police say they seized two loaded firearms, a quantity of Fetanyl and drug paraphernalia.

Troopers say 38-year old Christopher Wallace is currently on parole with the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and on probation with United States Federal Probation Office.

Wallace is facing several charges including criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

He’s being held in the Oneida County jail without bail.

State Police were assisted by the Utica Police Department in their investigation.

Utica Police are part of the state’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination or (GIVE) initiative

GIVE is a key component in New York’s strategy to reduce gun violence and save lives in communities with high rates of firearm-related violence.

The initiative targets 17 counties outside of New York City reporting high rates of shootings and violent crime outside of the five boroughs and provides state funding to 20 police departments, district attorneys’ offices, probation departments and sheriffs’ offices in Albany, Broome, Chautauqua, Dutchess, Erie, Monroe, Nassau, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Orange, Rensselaer, Rockland, Schenectady, Suffolk, Ulster and Westchester counties.

Police agencies use the funding for equipment, overtime, training, technical support and personnel, including crime analysts and prosecutors.

Utica Police recently successfully removed three illegal loaded handguns from the possession of alleged criminals over the course of a day and a night.