Oswego, N.Y. — Oswego Police Chief Phil Cady wants to send a message to anyone thinking about selling drugs in Oswego.
“This is our community, and we will fight every day to ensure that the sale of drugs do no not nullify the positive changes that have been happening in Oswego in the last few years,” he said.
Mayor Billy Barlow earlier this year announced a restructuring of the police department to allow for the creation of the City of Oswego Drug Task Force — a move, he said, was “long overdue following the apparent rise of heroin and molly into the Oswego community and a lack of special investigations and enforcement in recent years.”
The city now has four members on its drug task force. They have been working with the Oswego County Drug Task Force and City Police Special Response Team to investigate and crack down on drugs in the city.
Last week, the Drug Task Force announced it had made its first arrest: A city of Oswego couple out on bail on a previous drug charge was caught with 45 bags of heroin and some crack cocaine police say they intended to sell.
Tim J. Tompkins Jr., and his girlfriend, Stephanie M. Connolly, both 30, were charged Thursday with two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Tompkins and Connolly were previously charged in December 2021 with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance after police say they had heroin they intended to sell. Following their arrest in December, Tompkins was released on his own recognizance and Connolly was released on an electronic home monitoring, city officials said.
Earlier this month, task force members learned Tompkins and Connolly were trying to sell drugs again, Cady said.
The task force investigated the case for about 10 days, then intervened before drugs could be sold, the police chief said.
Cady said the arrests will hopefully send a message to others.
“This is our city, too,” he said, noting many officers live in Oswego.
Tompkins and Connolly were sent to the county jail after their most recent drug arrests.
The police department asks anyone with information about drug sales in the city to call them at (315) 342-8120.
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