Syracuse Gun Violence Enhancement

The Syracuse PSN Strategy Committee, established in 2010, proposes to take the next step in the evolution of the City’s gang and gun reduction strategies. Syracuse has employed various evidence-based and evidence-informed strategies, many with PSN support. In addition, over the past several years, Syracuse has made deliberate efforts to build violent crime strategies along the entire continuum of violence reduction strategies, emphasizing intervention and prevention. To continue to enhance gang and gun reduction strategies, Onondaga County will direct support the work of its Interstate Gun Trafficking working group and to support enforcement activities of the Gang Violence Task Force. Gun violence in Syracuse has intensified in the last few years. In 2020, the number of all gun crime incidents (N=1003) was 47% higher than the previous year. While overall gun crime decreased between 2020 and 2021 (N=1,003 and N=797, respectively), the absolute numbers remain above the 2018-2019 average. In 2021 there were 128 shootings with injury or fatality, a slight decrease compared to 2020 but well above the 2018-2019 average. In 2021, more than half of all shootings with injury and homicide were gang/group-related, and 81% of gun homicides were gang/group-related.

In 2022 the number of shootings with injury was 35 percent higher than the five-year average. Likewise, incidents of shootings with death or injury in 2022 were 26 percent higher than the five- year average. Shooting victims reflect a similar increase (up 21 percent in 2022, compared to the five-year average), as do the number of shots fired (up 23 percent in 2022 compared to the five-year average). A summary of the analysis conducted by the Central New York Crime Analysis Center (CNYCAC) continues to indicate that gun crime and CPW are disproportionately driven by people involved in groups/gangs (shooters and victims), disproportionately concentrated in hotspots, disproportionately caused by Multiple Use Firearms, and highly related to drug trafficking and illicit markets as high-risk individuals are also enmeshed in the illicit drug trade. Additionally, a more recent analysis of gang/group violence shows a gun violence pattern related to after-hours party and bar events throughout Onondaga County. The PSN Strategy Committee serves as the oversight body to gun and gang violence initiatives in Onondaga County. Agencies represented on the Strategy Committee include the Gifford Foundation (the funding agency), the Finn Institute (the research partner), Syracuse Police Department, Onondaga County Probation, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of NY, the Salvation Army, the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office, the Syracuse City School District, and the City of Syracuse.