The Syracuse Police Department is looking to apply for a federal grant that would be used to collect evidence more efficiently on criminal activity committed on the city’s South Side.   

The 2017 Smart Policing Initiative Grant, funded by the United States Department of Justice, awards up to $700,000 to seven cities to help state and local law enforcement agencies in evidence-based policing. If approved, SPD can use the grant for surveillance, paid informants, equipment and a research consultant.   

Steven Thompson, a Syracuse Common Council member who brought up the federal grant at the council’s Jan. 23 meeting, said numerous federal grants that have been allocated to the SPD to aid its investigations over the years.  

“The city is always looking for grants at both the state and federal level to augment any projects they may have going on at the time,” he said. “This is used to offset money that taxpayers would be paying for certain programs.” 

Thompson, who is also the chair of the city’s public safety committee, said he has been communicating with SPD to learn more information about its interest in the grant and whether it is worth pursuing the grant. He said the grant would be specifically used for the city’s South Side, citing a high crime rate.   

He also said a worker who handles grant applications for the city will review the SPD’s request for the grant and will apply for it if it seems fit. Thompson said SPD has received the most outside grants out of the different departments within the city government. 

Syracuse’s average crime rate remains substantially higher than the national average. According to Neighbor Scout, the national median of crimes per square mile is 32, but Syracuse has 258 crimes per square mile. The city also had its deadliest year in the history in 2016, with 30 reported homicides. In response to the violence, the SPD created a homicide task force to investigate homicide cases more efficiently.   

Eric Olson, associate director of the Latin American Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., said many components contribute to the success of a police program, not just grants.  He specializes in organized crime on an international level and said violence reduction programs, for example, have seen results.  

“Simply sending money to a police force to have them buy new equipment or set up a new force, but there is no guarantee that anything will improve,” Olson said. “But there needs to be other components to be successful.” 

Technology can be useful for police forces to actively use gathered information, but technology itself does not solve all problems, he added.  

 Olson also said he understands that the work police forces do is not a simple task. 

“In general, they are undercompensated for the risks they take,” Olson said. “No one approach of a police force is going to solve the problem. You need well-funded, compensated, trained, chosen and skilled police to start down the right path to solve the issues at hand.”

Published on February 1, 2017 at 9:29 pm

Contact Jessica: jzuk01@syr.edu