Onondaga County sheriff’s office could have body cameras by end of May, county executive says

Body camera

A Newark, N.J. police officer displays how a body cam is worn during a news conference unveiling the department's new cameras in 2017. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)AP

Syracuse, N.Y. — Onondaga County sheriff’s deputies could have body cameras by the end of May, County Executive Ryan McMahon said today.

The cameras could be deployed soon after that, McMahon said at a briefing this afternoon.

Sheriff Eugene Conway is expected to turn in a proposal for body cameras by the end the day, county officials said.

The initial estimates put the cost at $450,000-500,000, McMahon said.

Once Conway’s plan is turned in, McMahon’s office will put a final price tag on the program, said Justin Sayles, McMahon’s spokesman. Legislators will vote Tuesday on the proposal to give the sheriff’s office money, he said.

From there, it’s up to the sheriff to get the body cameras.

Conway had told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard recently that he had no plans to outfit deputies with body cameras. He said cameras were important but expensive — an expense he would not choose over priorities like hiring deputies to fill vacancies, buying more cars and replacing ballistic vests.

That changed on Friday.

Just 9 1/2 hours after Syracuse.com published an article outlining Conway’s resistance, the county went from having no plans for body cameras — considered an important part of policing and police reform by many — to a pledge by McMahon to pay for the cameras within a month.

After a Syracuse.com story reported Onondaga County Sheriff Office had no body cameras and no plans for them, Sheriff Gene Conway called a news conference to say he would welcome the cameras if the county provides the money. Here, Conway holds up the syracuse.com article to make his point on Friday, April 23, 2021.

After a Syracuse.com story reported Onondaga County Sheriff Office had no body cameras and no plans for them, Sheriff Gene Conway called a news conference to say he would welcome the cameras if the county provides the money. Here, Conway holds up the syracuse.com article to make his point on Friday, April 23, 2021.Katrina Tulloch

Here’s what happened:

At 6 a.m., Syracuse.com published the article about the sheriff’s inaction on cameras, a stance he’d held for at least four years.

In response, Conway called a 10 a.m. news conference to complain about the article and express that he’d start planning a body camera program right away if his office was given money to fully pay for a program.

At 3:30 p.m., County Executive McMahon held his own news conference — announcing he’d approve giving the sheriff’s office the money needed to get body cameras, possibly as soon as in May.

“Let’s strike while the iron is hot,” McMahon said on Friday.

Conway has declined to comment on the county executive’s pledge to fund a program. As of Tuesday, the sheriff and McMahon had not spoken about body cameras, said Sgt. Jon Seeber, spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

Officials with the sheriff’s office and the county executive’s office have been communicating about creating a program, Sayles said. Both offices are researching options, he said.

The Onondaga County Legislature is expected to vote Tuesday on funding a body camera program.

If funding is approved, it will be up to Conway to make the program happen. No one can order the sheriff, an elected official, to have his deputies use body cameras.

The article by Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard published Friday reported that:

  • At least 10 of Onondaga County’s 15 law enforcement agencies have body cameras. That includes the Syracuse Police Department.
  • The sheriffs’ offices in three of Upstate New York’s four most populous counties have body cameras.
  • The New York State Police started equipping troopers in the Capital Region with body cameras this month. The state plans to roll out the cameras to the rest of the force this summer and fall.
  • Nearly half of the nation’s more than 15,000 law enforcement agencies had body cameras as of 2016, according to a report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the most recent estimate available.
  • Before last Friday, Conway had not asked for funding for cameras since before McMahon took office in 2018.
  • Conway estimated the cost of body cameras would be as much as $2 million a year. Based on Syracuse police department’s experience, the article estimated equipping the sheriff’s department 225 deputies could cost about $429,000 a year.

Body cameras benefit the public and police, experts say.

Complaints about officer misconduct steadily decline when police wear cameras, a study released in November by the Urban Institute found. Knowing a camera is present, experts said, tends to improve the behavior of everyone involved.

Body cameras give investigators and the public a chance to review police shootings and weigh whether an officer’s decision to use force was justified

Editor’s note: Syracuse.com’s Tim Knauss contributed to this article. This article was updated with information from an afternoon briefing by Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon.

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Staff writer Samantha House covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach her at shouse@syracuse.com.

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