The Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department will soon have a little more room and better tools for coordinating efforts in major emergencies.
Central New York Rep. John Mannion (D-Geddes) announced he has secured $1,031,000 in federal funding to purchase a new command center trailer for the department. It will replace a smaller and less well-equipped trailer that was repurposed to serve as a temporary field office after the prior command center was no longer able to be used.
Sheriff Toby Shelley said replacing and upgrading the command center was a priority for him. He noted that the current temporary center becomes too crowded during major events, such as during the recent standoff on Sunflower Drive in Salina, where a man who allegedly killed his neighbor and set fire to the building held police and firefighters at bay for 13 hours.
Sheriff’s Captain James McKenna said the new trailer will plug gaps and modernize they’ve identified in the way they can manage a major event.
"The new command center's going to have all the modern technology that we rely on, specifically like drone feeds, camera feeds, all the internet and networking capabilities that we can tie fire, EMS, and emergency management together," McKenna said.
"When emergencies happen, coordination matters, communication matters,” said Mannion. “Having the ability to bring multiple agencies together quickly and operate effectively in the field can make a real difference in protecting lives and property.”
Mannion said he managed to get $15 million in funding for 15 projects across his district, which covers all or part of five counties from Utica to Auburn to Cortland. He said one of those projects being funded is a similar command center trailer for the city of Syracuse Police Department.
