Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:
Welcome back to campus! We hope everyone had a safe and restful break. We have some important information we would like to share with you this month in addition to the email that was sent last week with spring semester safety reminders, including:
- New Director of Emergency Management
- Winter Weather Reminder
- DPS Peace Officer Academy Graduation
- Updates on Independent Review by Former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch
- Monthly Bias Update
New Director of Emergency Management
Last month, we welcomed William Karnadi to our team in the Department of Public Safety (DPS) as our director of emergency management and business continuity planning. Karnadi joins Syracuse University from New York University, where he served as the emergency management manager for the last several years. We are happy to have Karnadi on board and part of our team!
Winter Weather Reminder
Now that the cold and snow has settled in, whether you are new or returning to the University, please take a moment to review the winter weather message that was sent out to our community in December. This message details how and when we will communicate in the event of extreme weather.
DPS Peace Officer Academy Graduation
We are proud to announce that our most recent Peace Officer Academy class graduated last Friday. The seven graduates received their diplomas in a small ceremony with family and colleagues. Five of the recruits will continue on with DPS and the other two will begin positions with Onondaga Community College and the New York State Inspector General’s Office.
Updates on Independent Review by Former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch
To date, 95% of the 23 recommendations by Loretta Lynch’s team have been completed (55 out of 58 resolutions). The latest highlights include:
- The new South Campus Community Center opened on Small Road in late October 2021.
- Established body-worn camera equipment replacement and policy for supervisory weekly review of camera footage.
- Coordinated with the Student Activism Engagement Team to respond to campus protests.
- Initiated a mandate for “no plain-clothes” details for officers that respond to campus protests.
- Bias communications policy promulgated and checklists for bias incidents created.
- Planning and training for DPS officers on various DPS social media channels.
- Establishment of the Community Review Board to address complaints.
- Offficer field training and in-service programming, including procedural justice and hate crimes training.
- Collaborated with University communications team to streamline communications to the campus community relative to immediate threats and compliance with the Clery Act timely warnings provision.
- One Peace Officer Academy has been completed, and another will begin during the Spring 2022 semester.
Monthly Bias Update
We have no new updates to share on the status of our investigations. If we do have updates, we will update the chart on our website, and share any developments in this monthly email. It is also never too late to come forward with information. You can call DPS at 315.443.2224 or submit information anonymously via the Silent Witness tool or Rave Guardian mobile app. In addition, to report a bias incident or to receive support, visit the Stop Bias website.
Sincerely,
The Department of Public Safety