How do Syracuse's mayoral candidates plan to reduce city crime? - Syracuse.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- What would Syracuse's mayoral candidates do to address crime in the city?

Police chief Frank Fowler has already announced plans to retire at the end of Miner's administration. One of the next mayor's first tasks, then, will be to appoint a new chief.

With that in mind, the candidates were asked the following question:

Crime is a major issue for people who live and work in the city. Last year saw more homicides than any in history. The police department is understaffed and costs for overtime ballooned to more than $13M last year. As mayor, what specific action would you take to combat crime?

There are seven Democrats vying for the party's endorsement, as well as a Republican, a Green and an independent in the race. Click on a candidate to jump to his or her response or scroll through all responses below.

The candidates' written answers to the question are given below, in no particular order. They are provided as submitted, with minor editing for style. They were asked to limit their responses to 250 words.

Look for a new candidate question each week. Have something you'd like to ask all the candidates? Email Chris Baker at cbaker@syracuse.com.

Juanita Perez Williams (D)

As a former prosecutor and the only mayoral candidate who has worked directly with law enforcement, combating crime throughout Syracuse will be a priority for my administration. We must begin to implement a comprehensive management approach to dealing with crime that proactively addresses immediate issues while tackling the systemic, root causes of crime our city faces.

In 2017, the [police union] agreement will expire. I will proactively negotiate a contract that is fair to the individuals responsible for the public's safety, while considering our financial realities. I will institute an electronic method to track and manage overtime hours worked. The current outdated system makes it impossible to push meaningful efforts to control costs. I will conduct hiring and fill new academy classes on a smaller scale, but on a more frequent basis. The department will gradually be brought up to adequate staffing, while becoming more diversified to better reflect the demographics of the city.

My plan will focus on enhancing police protection and enforcement on the streets by restructuring how we respond to crime. Community assigned police will be seen on the streets and work directly with their neighborhood. In addition, our police will have technological tools and modern resources readily available, which have proven to be successful in other cities.

These overlapping strategies must also address systemic issues in our city. My administration will prioritize solutions for our neglected neighborhoods and poverty. We must focus on quality of life issues for all city residents, revitalizing our streets, providing safe housing and building a local workforce for all skill sets.

Andrew Maxwell (D)

Public safety is fundamental to a city's success. For our community to truly thrive, people must be safe and feel safe, in all our neighborhoods. As mayor, I will immediately work with the Common Council to establish a new class of police recruits. This will put more officers on the street, but will also help to control overtime costs.

I will also double down on our use of data and new technology to extend the reach of our officers into our neighborhoods. Using data analytics, crime cameras, Shot-Spotter, body-worn cameras and other modern tools and techniques will act as force-multipliers.

While these near-term strategies will improve responsiveness, we must also focus on longer-term strategies that prevent crime by improving the personal networks that build community from within neighborhoods. Improving relationships between police and the community by creating opportunities for positive interactions helps to build trust. Trust is the foundation of the tighter personal and community networks required to make neighborhoods truly safe. These networks are built, not just between police and residents, but between everyone in our community through our schools, our faith communities, our parks, and our community centers.

Ultimately, investing in the people of our community by lifting up neighborhood conditions with partners like the Land Bank, and by strengthening education, workforce training and job creation are the best systemic ways to reduce crime by making Syracuse a city of opportunity for all.

Ben Walsh (I)

As Mayor, I will immediately take four actions to make our city safer. First, I will hire more police officers. Second, I will instruct my Chief of Police to prioritize quality-of-life issues that destabilize our neighborhoods. Third, I will expand the use of cameras and other technology to give our officers the tools they need. Fourth, I will ensure more officers are living in the communities they serve.

The addition of new police officers will decrease the amount of overtime paid to compensate for current understaffing. More boots on the ground will also help strengthen relationships between officers and residents through community-based policing.

As staffing increases I will place an enhanced focus on quality-of-life issues like larcenies, drug dealing and noise complaints. I will start by beefing up the underutilized multi-agency service team (MAST) initiative, which brings together multiple agencies (ex. SPD, DPW, Codes, etc.) to focus on nuisance crimes.

To support the work on the ground I will add cameras in neighborhoods where they are needed and wanted and fully institute the use of police body cameras to better protect both citizens and officers. Furthermore, I will instruct the police department to coordinate more closely with other law enforcement agencies.

Finally, I will incentivize officers to live in the city and recruit new officers from underrepresented populations to ensure the department fully represents the population it serves. To do this, I work with the School District's Public Service Leadership Academy at Fowler to develop a pipeline of homegrown candidates.

Joe Nicoletti (D)

As Mayor I would increase the number of academy classes to fill the ranks of the police department, by shifting overtime funds into the police salary line. It will be a high priority to recruit new officers that reflect the diverse communities they will serve and protect.

Locally, I will build on the partnership with the Onondaga County Sheriff to assist with certain policing activities in the city while we recruit and train new officers.

By filling the SPD ranks, the city will be able to expand community policing details in our neighborhoods; this will build trust among residents and police and will greatly assist in solving crimes and fostering crime prevention.

A major factor in the increase in homicides last year is the heroin and opioid epidemic facing the City of Syracuse and the nation at large. This drug market has drug rings from rival gangs using illegal guns to secure their turf and customer base. The city must strengthen its collaborative and aggressive partnership with police agencies from the federal government, New York State and Onondaga County to combat gang violence. An example of this was last week's successful operation with the Attorney General's office resulting in 52 arrests and the disruption of organized gang activity in our community.

As Mayor, I will work closely with the Common Council to develop a long term strategy to determine the proper police force size and how to fund it. The city adopted changes to our participation in the NYS police pension plan which will lead to more officers retiring after 20 years of service. As a result early retirement must be considered in developing a long-term plan to ensure public safety needs are met going forward.

Marty Masterpole (D)

The City of Syracuse is facing unprecedented criminal activity, including homicides and gun violence. Our next mayor must be prepared to tackle this issue on day one, with real, practical, and affordable solutions in the face of daunting fiscal constraints.

My five-prong plan includes:

Prioritizing hiring and training new police officers to reduce the $13M overtime burden on the City and the Department;
Creating a partnership between the City and developers to offer affordable housing and/or rentals to Syracuse Police Officers, incentivizing officers to live in the community they work;
Investing in gun buyback programs and law enforcement campaigns to reduce gun violence;
Forming a coalition comprised of community leaders, police officers, business owners, and neighborhood stake-holders to augment community policing efforts; and
Reviewing and replicating effective crime reduction programs implemented in other cities, such as Hot Spots Policing in Lowell, Massachusetts and Group Violence Reduction Strategy in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Reducing crime and restoring public safety is a community wide effort and will require a substantial investment and financial discipline. As City Auditor, I published an in-depth 13-page report analyzing overtime costs within the Syracuse Police Department, which included seven recommendations addressing both cost containment issues, as well as administrative efficiency. Implementing these recommendations would modernize the bloated and outdated overtime system currently in place, allowing the city to invest these funds in targeted crime reduction efforts.

Raymond Blackwell (D)

First off, I believe Chief Fowler and the Syracuse Police Department have made some real improvements and have made real efforts to push policing forward. There has been positive movement on all other types of crime. But the continued rise of violent crime means we still have a long way to go. I believe it comes down to community policing. That means 3 things: 1) our Police force must represent the communities they serve, racially and by gender. That also means officers should be living in those same communities. 2) we need communities to step up as well, with neighborhood watches to help maintain stability in communities. Many neighborhoods with gun violence don't have neighborhood watches - these groups can help be a deterrent by bringing more eyes and ears onto the streets, but also by bringing the community closer together and helping individuals choose different paths than harming one another. 3) accountability of SPD. Yes, SPD can use more officers and more resources, $13 million in overtime is indicative of that. But, SPD must also be accountable to the citizens they serve - complaints must be followed up on and corrective action taken. SPD is not here to intimidate our community, they're here to help us live better lives. Officers who believe otherwise should reconsider their position in our community.

Laura Lavine (R)

City government is responsible for serving its residents' needs. Their safety and security are the city's obligation.

A record number of people were killed -- 30 lives were lost -- in 2016 on Syracuse's streets. The number of murders almost tripled in under ten years. Shots are fired nearly every day. Compounding the problem is the decrease in the homicide solve rate from approximately 80% to around 40% which is close to the worst in NYS.

Syracuse has the highest concentration of poverty among minorities of any city in the country. Our graduation rate was just above 60%.

Syracuse is in a continuing state of decline. Our basic safety and security needs are not being met which is completely unacceptable. How did this happen? Does poverty cause crime or does crime cause poverty? Whether it's one or the other, there is a strong relationship between the two, as there is with high school graduation rates.

What would I do to combat crime? For one thing, our current police force has roughly 400 officers. Less than a decade ago, we had closer to 500. That's a 20% reduction but our population didn't decline. I would increase the number of officers thereby reducing overtime costs. This would also allow law enforcement to create relationships with the residents by implementing greatly needed community policing. I would support our schools so as to increase literacy and graduation rates which would improve students' college and career readiness, and ultimately reduce poverty and crime. This is the city's responsibility.

Howie Hawkins (G)

I will draw on the Richmond, California model of community policing and neighborhood safety initiatives. It is real community policing - not a small public relations unit. Officers are assigned to neighborhoods and build relationships with residents and businesses. An Office of Neighborhood Safety with 12 staff works with gang members and the formerly incarcerated to help them secure education, employment, counseling, and drug treatment - or face the consequences if they return to criminal activity.

Much like Syracuse, Richmond is a predominantly working class city of over 100,000. 80% are people of color. A Green mayor, Gayle McLaughlin, hired a police chief committed to this approach. During her 2006-2014 mayoral term, homicides - which had exceeded 40 per year for decades - dropped 75% from 42 in 2006 to 11 in 2014. Violent crimes dropped 23%. Property crimes dropped 40%. The police diversified from 20% to 60% officers of color.

A 1980 federal consent decree to remedy past discrimination against blacks by the Syracuse Police Department set a goal of 10% black officers in all ranks. Today only 7% of the police in any rank are black, Latino, Native American, or Asian in a city that is 28% black and 49% people of color. 37 years after the federal consent decree, this is simply unacceptable.

Hiring a new police chief is a crucial decision for the next mayor. The culture of policing must change. Improving community relations and diversifying hiring and promotion in the police will help reduce crime.

Chris Fowler (D)

The most effective reforms build community trust between citizens and the police. Like many departments there is a chance to challenge the way we have always done things and ask ourselves; how would we do it differently if we were building the process from scratch today?

Combating crime is as much of an issue of economic opportunity as increased police activity. The goal is to set a different presence on the street, one of hope and action rather than apathy. It is true, improved community relations is key to ending violence in Syracuse. But, people coming back from incarceration with nothing but a bus card and $20; no economic development; no real opportunities and options; and a proliferation of guns and poverty, weave all those things together, and it's the perfect storm for the violence. We need to aggressively address economic opportunity.

This moment is the time for an appropriate transformative intervention to occur. For example, what if mental health first aid was treated like CPR? One in every four Americans experiences mental illness, and lack of police understanding can lead to tragedy. Imagine what could happen if police were all trained to deal with depression, anxiety, and other forms of mental health disorders. Creating strong social connections are important steps to prevent criminal activity.

Our mission is to ensure that the police department is fully staffed, efficient, data-driven, and is working in the best interest of the entire community first. Safety is paramount for our city to thrive.

Alfonso Davis (D)

Crime in the City of Syracuse is a multi-faceted issue and requires a multi-faceted approach to address it. One aspect that must be acknowledged is the lack of real economic development in communities in this city. When resources are few we create a vortex for negativity.

1) I will look to spur economic growth in the city for everyone. When people are working and thriving in the city they will be less likely to commit crimes.

2) I will look to bring back summer job programs for our youth. This will keep them active, help them build work experience, and gain a sense of satisfaction and responsibility that comes from earning a paycheck. When our youth are busy and not sitting idle they will have less time to get into mischief.

3) I will look to rebuild community policing in neighborhoods by instituting measures like officers walking the beat. I will also look to increase recruitment into law enforcement from those communities who are the most affected by crime. To date, the police department does not reflect the racial composition of the city. This is true despite the 1980s Consent Decree with the federal government. This must change.

4) I will look to set up mentoring programs for our youth with mentors who can encourage them to steer clear of trouble based on their own personal experiences.

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