Crime Prevention Technology Lost in City Budget Cuts
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh sounded the alarm on the city's budget crisis often in the COVID-19 pandemic.
He warned of severe budget cuts coming to be able to balance the budget and keep the city moving. The Syracuse Police Department felt these large cuts.
This includes a program aimed at tracking and fighting gun violence. Some residents wonder if the recent infusion of money from the federal stimulus package could restore some of the Syracuse police budget and this crime fighting tool.
The city of Syracuse is disbanding its ShotSpotter program, citing budget cuts. It costs more than $260,000 a year. From 2014-17, more than 600 shots fired calls were reported to 911. With the ShotSpotter program in place from 2017-20, that number grew to over 1400.
“The crime that exists in our neighborhoods is off the chain. These are the sensors that pick up shots being fired in our community,” said Rich Puchalski, executive director of Syracuse United Neighbors.
Puchalski is passionate about keeping Syracuse clean and safe. Shots fired are among the biggest issues he tackles in his day-to-day.
“These are the sensors that pick up shots being fired. Shots are fired in the middle of the night; neighbors don’t know the particular direction,” Puchalski says.
Syracuse police are also disappointed to lose the ShotSpotter program. It gave them more accurate shots fired numbers, got guns off the streets, and saved lives.
“When ShotSpotter alerted us, we got to the scene. We had enough trust and shot matter to know that something must’ve occurred there, even though we didn’t have any shell casings. We started looking up and down the street, and we eventually located a victim inside a foyer of a building who was bleeding to death,” said Joe Cecile, Syracuse Police deputy chief.
Safety in a potential false sense of security due to a lack of shots reported bothers residents.
“We had the highest incidence of homicide in Syracuse in last year,” Puchalski added.
Puchalski is looking to the top to get ShotSpotter back.
“I looked to the Syracuse Police Department. I gave them a challenge. They had to cut $6 million. I looked to them to say where they could make these cuts in a way to minimize the negative impact on the community,” said Mayor Walsh.
“It just came down to personnel or technical and equipment. COVID took a hit on all the budgets. Because you can have all the equipment and all the technology you want, but if no one is available to respond, what good is it?” explained Cecile.
With ShotSpotter off duty, Chief Cecile urges city residents to call 911 as soon as they hear or see anything criminal or that sounds like gun shots.
“Summer is coming, and violence is going to be on the increase,” Puchalski says.
If you would like to have the ShotSpotter program restored in Syracuse, Puchalski urges residents to call or write Mayor Walsh. Syracuse Police remind all citizens that, if they hear gun shots or see anything suspicious, to call 911 immediately.
Gloss