At the board’s last meeting, residents called on board members to accept the common council’s directive to resume police misconduct investigations, or resign.
Patrick McCarthy
Patrick McCarthy is a staff reporter at Central Current covering government and politics. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Maxwell and Newhouse Schools, McCarthy was born and raised in Syracuse and attended Nottingham High School.
Before joining the Central Current team, he worked as a writer at Friends of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo and wrote concert reviews for syracuse.com | The Post Standard. McCarthy also served as a contributing writer for TriplePundit, a publication focused on sustainability and corporate responsibility. In his role with Central Current, he provides access and transparency to elected officials – helping raise accountability and connecting readers to the decisions that shape Central New York.
Patrick McCarthy can be reached at pmccarthy@centralcurrent.org
Research, edits and Thurgood Marshall’s voice: How Syracuse officials are using AI
Central Current set out to learn more about the role that AI is playing in local governance, and what Syracuse officials see as the ideal role of AI moving forward.
Syracuse lawmakers direct Citizen Review Board to resume investigations of police, going against mayor, city lawyers
The decision followed a hearing at which three lawyers and advocates of the CRB pushed back against city lawyers.
Axon license plate readers go live in Syracuse. State legislator calls it ‘a constant, warrantless surveillance system’
The Syracuse police department confirmed Axon readers became active Monday morning.
Legal experts to advocate for Syracuse to preserve its Citizen Review Board in meeting with lawmakers
The Common Council’s Public Safety committee will host Alan Rosenthal, considered an architect of the CRB, and NYCLU.
Syracuse never posted its license plate reader policy. Chief Mark Rusin plans to change that before activating Axon readers
Rusin said the department is working with Axon to meet requirements laid out four years ago by surveillance oversight experts and authorized by the mayor.
Flock Safety removes its license plate readers, finalizing eight-month breakup with City of Syracuse
All readers have been removed, police and the company said. One lawmaker who led efforts to remove them called on other entities to also cut ties to Flock.
State lawmaker Pam Hunter pushing to regulate license plate reader surveillance
Hunter, the speaker pro tempore of the New York State Assembly, in April introduced a bill to restrict license plate readers, calling them a “weaponization of technology.”
How democratic socialists reshaped the Central New York political landscape
DSA members and progressives pulled off Democrats’ second historic election upset in less than a year. An organized campaign and a rising affordability crisis helped topple a CNY titan.
Maurice ‘Mo’ Brown declares victory while Magnarelli concedes in Democratic primary for Assembly seat
One DSA member likened Brown’s victory to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s unlikely rise in 2018, calling it, “Central New York’s ‘Joe Crowley moment.’”



