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Syracuse's new police chief takes over at a time of increased scrutiny and staff shortages

Syracuse Police Chief Joe Cecile
Ellen Abbott
/
WRVO News
Syracuse Police Chief Joe Cecile

A new police chief is on the beat in the city of Syracuse. Mayor Ben Walsh has chosen an experienced hand at a time when the department is under increased scrutiny.

Chief Joe Cecile was the runner-up the last time the city conducted a full-scale search for a police chief and settled on Kenton Buckner, a candidate from outside central New York. During a news conference Friday, Cecile admitted he was disappointed.

“My father told me over and over again, your character shows more when you don’t get what you want than when you do,” Cecile said. “Obviously I was upset for a few days but fell back on that and got back on the job."

Buckner submitted his resignation Friday, saying his decision to step down was a personal one. He also withdrew from consideration for a job as chief of the Olympia, Washington police department.

When it appeared that Buckner would move on from Syracuse recently, Walsh said discussions began to move to put Cecile in the job he lost three years ago. Walsh said Cecile is the best person for the job right now.

“There’s a lot of institutional knowledge, there are strong and deep relationships not just between Chief Cecile with current officers, but our retired officers,” Walsh said. “It’s a family like any other profession. There’s real value there."

The change in command comes at a time the department is under a spotlight, after a viral video showed police detaining a crying eight-year-old. Cecile was the face of the department as it defended the incident. Walsh said that had nothing to do with Buckner’s resignation. Cecile also described that kind of community policing made evident from that incident, as something that works.

“They have to be able to get out of the car and engage with the public. Try to fix chronic problems instead of coming back again and again and again. Engage with people,” Cecile said. “There is no bigger power of police when they get out, in their territory, and engage with people about a problem, and bring stakeholders together, and try to fix it there, so it doesn’t happen again."

But that’s hard to do right now, with the Syracuse department in the midst of a big staffing shortage. Cecile said fewer people are taking the civil service test to become a police officer, and he expects alleviating that shortage is one of the first things he’ll focus on as chief.

"We have to look at creative ways to have more people to take the test so we have a bigger pool,” he said. “Our pool has shrunk from what used to be 700 people taking that test to 140. If it goes down any lower, we’re going to be challenged with what we do, and what we eliminate."

Ellen produces news reports and features related to events that occur in the greater Syracuse area and throughout Onondaga County. Her reports are heard regularly in regional updates in Morning Edition and All Things Considered.