How our reporting led to action on body cameras (Letter from the Editor)
Updated May 07, 4:08 PM;
Posted May 07, 4:07 PM
This photo from 2018 shows a body camera worn by Syracuse police.Patrick Lohmann | Syracuse.com
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Dear reader,
Our best work as the largest local news outlet in Central New York holds our elected officials accountable and leads to important changes in our community. Rarely, however, do we see the swift results from our reporting as we did on Friday, April 23.
First thing that morning, reporter Samantha House published a story about the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department being one of few organizations its size in the state that doesn’t have body-worn cameras. In an interview, Sheriff Gene Conway said he couldn’t see prioritizing spending the money it would take to outfit his team with cameras over other expenses and that he had no plans to implement such a program.
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Onondaga County sheriff’s office could have body cameras by end of May, county executive says
Updated Apr 30, 2021;
Posted Apr 29, 2021
A Newark, N.J. police officer displays how a body cam is worn during a news conference unveiling the department s new cameras in 2017. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)AP
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The cameras could be deployed soon after that, McMahon said at a briefing this afternoon.
Sheriff Eugene Conway is expected to turn in a proposal for body cameras by the end the day, county officials said.
The initial estimates put the cost at $450,000-500,000, McMahon said.
Once Conway’s plan is turned in, McMahon’s office will put a final price tag on the program, said Justin Sayles, McMahon’s spokesman. Legislators will vote Tuesday on the proposal to give the sheriff’s office money, he said.
Wildfires, saving injured hiker, finding lost child: Latest DEC Forest Ranger action
Updated 3:06 PM;
State Forest Rangers have kept busy recently dealing with wild flowers, rescuing an injured hiker and finding a lost child.
The following incidents took place between April 19-24. All information below was supplied by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Town of Lysander. Onondaga County
Illegal Fires: “On April 19 at 6:30 p.m., a Forest Ranger received a call from Onondaga County 911 Dispatch about a woman setting fires in several parking lots at the Three Rivers Wildlife Management Area (WMA). The Phoenix Fire Department responded and extinguished the fires. Ranger Chappell and Ranger Lieutenant Jackson also responded to the site to conduct a preliminary investigation and found the remnants of bonfires in the parking lots. the Ranger interviewed witnesses and identified a possible subject. The following day, the Ranger , along with an Environmental C
County exec forces sheriff’s hand on body cams: We’ll pay for them. (Good Morning CNY for Apr. 26)
Updated 6:28 AM;
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Photo of the Day
After a Syracuse.com story reported Onondaga County Sheriff Office had no body cameras and no plans for them, Sheriff Gene Conway called a news conference to say he would welcome the cameras if the county provides the money. Here, Conway holds up the syracuse.com article to make his point on Friday, April 23, 2021.Katrina Tulloch
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County exec forces sheriff’s hand on body cams: We’ll pay for them: Onondaga County Sheriff Gene Conway said in a Syracuse.com article published Friday morning that he had no plans to outfit sheriff’s deputies with body cameras, echoing a stance he’s held for at least four years. In an extraordinary 9-1/2 hours after Syracuse.com’s story published at 6 a.m., the county went from no plans for body cameras to a pledge to pay for the cameras with a possible rollout in the next year. H