OSWEGO, NY— City of Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow has proposed a $90,000 grant to increase police patrols within the Port City. The new patrols will be called “quality-of-life patrols” and will be conducted on foot by Oswego City Police Department every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening. The proposal for more policing in the city comes after a recent increase in the number of night time disturbances reported to the Oswego City Police.
Some students from the SUNY Oswego fear the new patrols will be specifically targeting students. Julian Martinez, a junior finance major at SUNY Oswego said, “Why now? Why increase the patrols now? After all these years of having the college involved in the community what debauchery is occurring to make them increase the patrols?”
Martinez believed the patrols will be mainly focusing on student activity. He noted many Oswego State students are most active in the city on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. The same nights the quality of life patrols will be conducted.
Other students feel the patrols will help make the city a safer place for students. Senior, business-administration major Az Wilson said, “ It’s going to be better. It’s going to make the city a lot safer. I think it would help protect some of our students who go out on those nights as well.”
Mayor Barlow said the quality-of-life patrols are not meant to target students and he feels having police walking the streets at night will benefit the city, as well as university students. Barlow said he wanted “boots on the ground” to make sure city codes were being enforced and to ensure no large disturbances affected the city on its busiest nights.
Mayor Barlow also hopes the quality-of-life patrols will create a stronger relationship between the city police and the residents of the city.
Barlow said, “We know the relationship between police and public can be strained at times and I believe the best way to improve that relationship is to get the police out of the station, out of the cop car, walking in the parks, walking in the neighborhoods, and collecting data, but also forming relationships with our community members.”
Mayor Barlow said the Oswego City Police Department already has a good relationship with the community it serves, but more outreach can always be done.
The quality-of-life patrols have been funded for the rest of 2019 and all of 2020.
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