In a dizzying day, county exec forces sheriff’s hand on body cams: We’ll pay for them
Updated Apr 23, 2021;
Syracuse, NY Onondaga County Sheriff Gene Conway said in a Syracuse.com article published Friday morning that he had no plans to outfit sheriff’s deputies with body cameras, echoing a stance he’s held for at least four years.
In an extraordinary 9 1/2 hours after Syracuse.com’s story published at 6 a.m., the county went from no plans for body cameras to a pledge to pay for the cameras with
a possible rollout in the next year.
Here’s how it unfolded: At 6 a.m., Syracuse.com published a story about the sheriff’s inaction on cameras. Conway called a 10 a.m. news conference to complain about the story, but said he’d start planning a body camera program right away if given the money. At 3:30 p.m., County Executive Ryan McMahon held his own news conference to promise money for the program.