Sheriff Conway has no more excuses for not buying body cameras (Editorial)
Today 7:00 AM
The national movement for police accountability finally reached the Onondaga County sheriff’s department on Friday. In the morning, Sheriff Eugene Conway said he would implement a body-worn camera program if county government pays for it. By afternoon, the county executive and legislature chairman promised to appropriate the money.
The sheriff got to the correct result. We wish we didn’t have to drag him there.
The sheriff proposed a body cam pilot program in 2017. It was not funded, and he did not bring it up again. Since that time, the trust gap between police and the public has only gotten wider. The conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd proved the value of video evidence shot by a bystander, Darnella Frazier. The public should not have to depend on a teenager with a smartphone to capture video evidence of police misconduct.
By Dave Smith
Apr 23, 2021
Syracuse, N.Y. - After a tense press conference, this morning by Sheriff Gene Conway, Onondaga County executive Ryan Mcmahon has announced that he is pushing forward an effort to get the Sheriff s department the money they need to outfit Deputies with the cams.
Conway says he supports body cams but says it is not likely they will have them until next April due to budget issues.
Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon says he was pleased to hear Conway this morning and has announced, there is money that can be put in the budget, and he plans to have the procurement process begin immediately.
In a dizzying day, county exec forces sheriff’s hand on body cams: We’ll pay for them
Updated Apr 23, 2021;
Syracuse, NY 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.
Here’s how it unfolded: At 6 a.m., Syracuse.com published a story about the sheriff’s inaction on cameras. Conway called a 10 a.m. news conference to complain about the story, but said he’d start planning a body camera program right away if given the money. At 3:30 p.m., County Executive Ryan McMahon held his own news conference to promise money for the program.
See the data: Covid-19 targets groups that lag getting vaccines in Onondaga County
Updated Apr 22, 2021;
Posted Apr 22, 2021
Le Moyne College in Syracuse hosted a Covid-19 vaccine clinic Friday, April 9, 2021 to students, faculty and family members.N. Scott Trimble | syracuse.com
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Syracuse, N.Y. – The older you are in Onondaga County, the more likely you are to be vaccinated and the less likely you are to get Covid-19. Increasingly, new cases of the virus are concentrated among people under 40, who are less likely to have gotten a vaccine.
Today, for example. 75% of the 92 new cases confirmed since Wednesday occurred in people under 40, County Executive Ryan McMahon said. In the 13 months since the virus arrived, by contrast, only 53% of cases occurred in that age group.
By Dave Smith
Apr 22, 2021
Syracuse, N.Y. - Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon today said the virus is beginning to affect the younger people as they are the ones who have not been vaccinated yet for the most part
He said the key is to continue testing, especially those under the age of 17 so that if a case is discovered it can be stopped from spreading quickly.
McMahon said that there are 92 new cases of the virus, 56 of them being in people under 30. He also announced another death of a 74-year-old man. That brings the death total so far to 697. The 7-day positivity rate stands at 1.5%, and the daily rate is lower at 1.1%.