Ben Walsh, Syracuse’s new mayor, has been busy working to fulfill campaign promises made last fall regarding the city’s police department.

Since December, his office has been conducting a national search for a replacement of Syracuse Police Department Chief Frank Fowler, who plans to continue serving as chief until the end of 2018.

No candidates for the position have been discussed publicly in the month since Fowler confirmed he would stay on the force. Fowler initially said he planned to retire when Former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner left office at the end of 2017.

“By conducting a national search, it allows us to cast a wide net to make sure we’re bringing on the best person,” Walsh said in a statement this past December. “If that person ends up being right here from Syracuse or right within the police department that’s fine, but we don’t want to limit our options.”

Walsh also said he would hire 25 to 30 more police officers to fill vacancies in the Syracuse Police Department. This initiative will be funded by the Common Council as part of the city’s current budget, the mayor said.

The Walsh administration also hired three deputy chiefs into new leadership positions last month.

Capt. Lynette DelFavero was promoted to deputy chief of the uniform bureau, which is responsible for providing direct police services to the public. She worked with the human resources department and has served with the SPD for 20 years.

Sgt. Derek McGork was promoted to deputy chief of the SPD’s investigations bureau. He is a supervisor for the Homicide Squad, a team formed in 2017 after Syracuse saw a record number of homicides in 2016. More than 30 people were murdered in the city in 2016. That department focuses on improving the rate at which city homicides are solved.

Capt. Rich Shoff will head the community policing department as deputy chief. He has been the commanding officer of community policing in Syracuse for eight years and is a veteran of the United States Navy. Walsh, throughout the 2017 mayoral race, advocated for improved community policing policy.

“We all share a common goal to ensure that every resident of our city experiences a relationship with the police that is based on mutual respect and concern for the safety of all who live here,” said Sharon Owens, deputy mayor of Syracuse, in the December statement.

Police hiring and staffing was a major issue in the 2017 mayoral election, with the SPD understaffed and racking up millions of dollars in overtime pay, according to Syracuse.com. The city of Syracuse spent $13 million on overtime in 2016, per Syracuse.com.

Last October, at a mayoral candidate forum, Walsh said he wanted to hire more officers to cut down on overtime costs, and said he would look into securing grants from Onondaga County, New York state and the federal government to fund this initiative.

Walsh also proposed putting up more surveillance cameras in neighborhoods that both wanted and needed them, and said he would urge the SPD to buy more body cameras for police officers. In September, he said the surveillance cameras would help reduce crime.

Security cameras were installed in the University Hill area last year, funded by Syracuse University’s Department of Public Safety and several local landlords. The SPD also worked with Syracuse’s Common Council in September to secure $150,000 to install security cameras throughout the city, especially in high-crime neighborhoods.

Fowler, at a September Common Council meeting, said the security cameras have helped SPD solve criminal cases, in the past.

“I have also been listening closely to residents and community leaders from across the city, and I have heard their concerns,” Walsh said in December.

Published on January 30, 2018 at 1:52 am

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