SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Onondaga Community College is hosting a symposium this Friday featuring six panelists ranging from law enforcement officials to prominent community members. The symposium caps off a discussion series entitled “Race and Policing in America,” which featured three previous sessions outlining the history of policing in the United States, as well as problems with the system and possible solutions.
OCC Professor Tara Ross was a moderator at the first three discussion sessions. Ross said the different backgrounds of the panelists will lead to disagreements during the symposium, but she added that all the panelists have one thing in common.
“They all want to see reform, and they all understand that as much as everyone would like to get everything they want, they understand that anytime you’re talking about reform, you’re also talking about compromise,” Ross said.
Retired Onondaga County Chief Deputy David Wall is one of the panelists at the event. Wall’s focus during the discussion regards scaling back the need for police in everyday life.
“It’s become too easy to call the police and ask them to intervene in everyday problems that most of us could resolve,” Wall said.
Wall also emphasized the importance of providing mental health resources to the public rather than dispatching the police for mental health matters.
The symposium is this Friday at 1 p.m. over Microsoft Teams. There is no preregistration required and the link is above.
