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Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh has agreed to reallocate resources away from the Syracuse Police Department and increase transparency in officer interactions, the city announced Thursday. 

Fifteen advocacy groups, including Last Chance for Change and Black Lives Matter Syracuse, presented nine demands to Walsh and the Syracuse Common Council in June to reform SPD. The demands, entitled the People’s Agenda for Police Reform, include removing school resource officers from city schools and demilitarizing SPD.

Of the nine total demands presented by the coalition, Walsh’s administration agreed to four, partially agreed to three and delegated two to the Common Council and the Syracuse City School District.

Hours after Walsh released his response to the demands, protesters with Last Chance for Change and Rebirth SYR expressed dissatisfaction with the mayor’s response at a rally in downtown Syracuse. 

Although Walsh’s office has been more engaged in police reform than other administrations, more must be done, said Yusuf Abdul-Qadir, director of the central New York chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

“You cannot compromise on justice,” Abdul-Qadir said at the rally. “You can’t find a middle ground between what’s right and wrong. You’re on the right side of history or the wrong side. The question is where you stand today.” 

Walsh agreed to implement New York City’s Right to Know Act into SPD procedures. The city will fully implement the act, which requires SPD officers to identify themselves and inform residents of their privacy rights while conducting searches, by Jan. 15, 2021, the city’s statement reads. 

While Walsh’s administration committed to implement the act in practice, he deferred to the Common Council for legislative action to officially adopt the act.

The mayor also partially agreed to the coalition’s demand to shift funding away from SPD to youth and community development initiatives. While the administration did not commit to reallocating a specific amount of funds, Walsh will identify areas where the city could reallocate funds away from SPD and begin a budget planning process with community participation Dec. 1.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s financial fallout for the city will likely result in budget cuts across all departments, including SPD, the city’s statement reads. The anticipated $35 million loss will also reduce the funds available for reallocation.

In agreeing to the coalition’s demand to demilitarize SPD, Walsh referred back to an executive order he issued June 19 stating that the city will take inventory of all the department’s military equipment and establish procedures for its future procurement and use.

The city’s statement did not specify whether SPD would commit to returning equipment donated to the department through military surplus programs, a measure community members pushed for during a July 2 forum. The city will complete its inventory of military equipment by Sept. 15 and develop standards for its procurement and use by Dec. 1.

Walsh’s administration referred back to the same executive order in agreeing to the agenda’s demand for a review of SPD’s use of force policy. The policy will be updated by Oct. 15, according to the city’s statement.

“That is unacceptable,” Andrew Croom of the Syracuse Police Accountability and Reform Coalition said at the rally. SPAARC has provided guidance to SPD on reforming its use of force policy. “This should happen tomorrow.”

The two demands Walsh deferred included removing school resource officers from city schools and empowering the Citizen Review Board to enforce its disciplinary recommendations for police officers. Walsh’s administration deferred the decisions to remove resource officers and strengthen the review board to SCSD and the Common Council, respectively.

Walsh also pledged to issue an executive order by Dec. 1 requiring the Common Council to review any new surveillance technology before installation, meeting one of the agenda’s demands. 

In responding to the groups’ demand for SPD to revise its body camera policies to require officers to film their entire shift, Walsh said the city would implement a new policy to ensure officers record the entirety of any police encounter. 

Walsh also partially agreed to the agenda’s demand that he publish the city’s current police union contract while including the 

in a renegotiation process. The city published the most recent agreement on SPD’s website, but will not involve the Citizen Review Board in the negotiation process due to ongoing arbitration between the city and the union.

Following the release of the mayor’s response, speakers at the rally said they would continue pushing for their demands to be met in full.

“Don’t be distracted, Syracuse. We got millions of people watching us, around the country and indeed around the world. We can be the example,” Abdul-Qadir said. “We need to do it now. We need to do it with a sense of urgency.” 

Published on July 17, 2020 at 9:19 am

Contact Sarah: [email protected] | @sarahalessan