The Syracuse Police Department is currently implementing a special task force to investigate murders in the city following its deadliest year yet in 2016.

The idea for the Homicide Task Force, which will exist through SPD’s Criminal Investigations Division, had been circulating within the police department for years. Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner officially announced its establishment during her State of the City address on Jan. 12.

The task force will consist of one lieutenant, one sergeant and eight detectives working to investigate homicides in Syracuse.

Sgt. Richard Helterline, who is part of the Criminal Investigation Division at the SPD, said in an email the idea for the task force had “been passed around” for years but was delayed due to staffing issues.

But with the increased number of homicides in 2016, the issue became a particularly urgent one to address, Helterline said. Additionally, the police department was recently able to transfer more detectives to its investigations unit because SPD had a new class of recruits graduate from its field training program, Helterline said.

“These new detectives allowed for the formation of the homicide squad,” he said.

The task force will now be the lead group for solving homicide cases in the Syracuse area. The trend of murders in the city has continued in 2017, with the double homicide of brothers Ismael and Daniel Diaz-Marrero earlier this month. Police have since made three arrests related to those murders, and Miner said at her State of the City address that those arrests were made under the new task force.

When a homicide occurs, Helterline said, all detectives in the division will work on a preliminary investigation. As time goes by and the investigation makes progress, some detectives will work on other cases and the task force will focus on the homicide.

Helterline said that previously during homicide investigations, the department would often not have detectives available to respond to other felony cases that came in.

“Now, we will be able to work the homicide case, as well as the other cases, so that things do not get backed up,” he said.

Whether such a task force can ultimately be effective is unclear, said Christopher Maxwell, a professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. Maxwell said there is no current evidence to suggest task force teams alleviate crime, saying that the Department of Justice has not been able to support research that would be able to determine whether task forces are effective.

“The goal is to reduce the chance of crime for the most at-risk people,” he said. “It would be lovely to know if they work, but nothing is certain.”

Maxwell also said high crime rates typically reflect the social status of an area and crime tends to be concentrated in areas of disadvantage, which makes it difficult to deal with in both the short and long term.

Helterline, though, said he’s optimistic the task force will make a difference.

“The ultimate goal is that a dedicated homicide squad which will continually work the homicide cases will result in the closure of more cases,” Helterline said.

Published on January 24, 2017 at 9:47 pm

Contact Jessica: jzuk01@syr.edu