Fitzpatrick says violent crime is declining, praises public safety partnerships

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick used the annual Advisory Council luncheon to cast the county’s violent-crime decline as the product of steady, multi-agency work, not a one-time break in the numbers.

At The Oncenter in Syracuse on April 28, the 55th District Attorney’s Advisory Council Awards & Scholarship Luncheon paired a “State of the Office” address from Fitzpatrick with recognition for law enforcement members and outstanding citizens who have contributed to the criminal justice system. County Executive Ryan McMahon attended and congratulated the honorees, underscoring how the county’s public safety message now reaches beyond the courthouse and into city and suburban partnerships.

The broader context Fitzpatrick was leaning on is mixed but real. State data reported by syracuse.com showed Onondaga County’s overall crime rate fell 0.1% in 2024, while the violent-crime rate dropped more than 6%. Even so, the county’s murder rate remained 5.11 per 100,000 people, the fifth-highest in New York State, a reminder that lower totals do not erase the severity of the violence that still hits the community.

Inside Syracuse, the changes were sharper in some categories. Midyear 2024 figures compared with the same period in 2023 showed homicides down 36%, shots fired down 33% and shootings with injuries down 56%. Those gains were credited to cooperation among the Syracuse Police Department, the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department, the Central New York Crime Analysis Center, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, city government, state and federal agencies, and community groups.

Traffic enforcement remains part of that strategy, and the county’s safety board treats it as a crime-fighting tool rather than a narrow road-safety exercise. The Onondaga County Traffic Safety Advisory Board says its awards honor cooperation among law enforcement and community members, including an “Aggressive Criminal Enforcement Award” for traffic stops that lead to arrests or crime solutions. At the April 23 traffic safety awards ceremony, Syracuse Police Chief Mark Rusin said traffic stops can uncover more serious crimes, and he highlighted a Liverpool police officer who made 1,845 traffic stops, issued 2,068 citations and made 63 impaired-driving arrests.

The luncheon’s message was clear: Onondaga County is trying to turn improved crime data into proof that partnerships are working, even as officials and residents still have to live with the gap between aggregate declines and the day-to-day reality in Syracuse neighborhoods.