Armory Square Homicide, An Eight-Year-Old, a Bag of Doritos and An Abrupt Resignation
The week began with a shooting, a homicide with four others injured on April 16th in the heart of downtown Syracuse’s nighttime entertainment area, Armory Square. Once an empty desolate part of downtown, the area has matured into a mixture of apartment dwellers, shops, restaurants, and a variety of professional offices, the Marriot and Syracuse University’s Nancy Cantor Center.
Mayor Walsh expressed his outrage, alongside was Syracuse Police Chief Kenton Buckner; both responding to a barrage of questions regarding safety in Syracuse.
The month of March wasn’t much better. On March 1st a 12-year-old was accused of robbing Juli Boeheim in the Cheesecake Factory’s parking lot. Like a laser beam local media seized the moment as crime became the dominant local news story. The story was also carried nationally.
Then like an anvil in a Road Runner cartoon, a public relations hammer fell on Syracuse Police, as a video taken by Kenneth Jackson (no relation) goes viral. It shows a child being detained after being accused of stealing a bag of Doritos. What Syracuse and America saw was a terrified child being hauled away by police, taken home, and presented to a parent. According to police the child was known to them.
The video was then picked up by local news, showing the video which had gone viral. The Syracuse Police Department made actual body-cam footage available. By then it was too late. National news organizations picked up the story. Response nationally was mostly negative, from a Washing DC television station reporting this as “an example of community policing” to a digital Essence Magazine’s sensational headline post, “Syracuse Police Detain 8-year-old over bag of Doritos”, the post has since been removed.
A negative story about a community usually remains local, a shelf life of 24 hours. Once a local video story goes viral it resembles a pot of boiling Grits, if the temperature isn’t reduced, you’re going to have uncontrolled spillover, and a hot mess on your hands. The 8-year-old-child and the bag of Doritos became national news. And every day it remained in the news became another Black Eye for the city of Syracuse.
The Legacy of Syracuse Police Chief Kenton Buckner
We were once famous for exporting our journalists, at one point; two of three network news programs were anchored by persons once on-air in Syracuse. Today, we could be noted for minority professionals coming here, staying several years, and then leaving. What happens after that is interesting, as we’ve had some go on to national prominence. No doubt, based on their journey through Central New York. In their successes, individuals led their teams to immediate results measurable by any metric. Others created structural change that exists long after the professional has relinquished their role. Kenton Buckner is in the later category. Changes made to the Syracuse Police Department will last long after Buckner’s abrupt departure.
Implementation of new social justice reforms required by New York State, this was the responsibility of Chief Buckner.
Tension from Day One
Change is never easy, and change was fought every inch of the way. From day one, as Buckner was being introduced to the media in the mayor’s office, the atmosphere was tense as many questions had a sharp edge. Both Buckner and Fowler actively snipped back, denouncing the stereotype of police and donuts.
You could hear a muffled cheer in the urban community when Buckner made a quoted statement that the Syracuse Police Department was “rotten to its core”. It didn’t help that his approach appeared to be straight out of the military.
The major complaint from rank and file? Buckner wasn’t a “cordial” person. Remember, Police are paramilitary they operate with similar protocols as the military, Buckner ran the Syracuse Police Department as a paramilitary unit.
One of the first structural changes made to the SPD was breaking the city into pieces with Captain’s placed in charge of geographic areas. Everything was to be handled by these individuals. This move created SPD structured pathways for career advancement.
Under the leadership of Public Information Officer Lt. Malinowski, for the first-time law enforcement; Syracuse Police Department, Onondaga County Sheriff, New York State Troopers and the FBI; assembled the local media, discussing the relationship with those that report the news.
Community Relations/City Residency Requirements for New Recruits
Working with the Administration and Syracuse Common Council, through legislation; newly recruited officers are required to live in the city.
Buckner made it a point to make himself available to the Black community through clergy and others as he was just a phone call away. I even had his cell phone number. At the same time, in private he was a fierce defender of his rank-and-file officers. If you came to him with any charge against an officer, do your homework.
Last summer at the peak of the pandemic, Syracuse saw a surge in gun violence. As a united force, Mayor Walsh, Deputy Mayor Owens, Common Council President Helen Hudson and Syracuse Police Chief Kenton Buckner appealing to residents of Syracuse that something must be done. Calling attention to the matter on the steps of city hall.
On the near-westside of Syracuse, during neighborhood trash initiatives Buckner engaged in neighborhood cleanup projects, picking up as much trash as anyone.
There have been active and vocal protests, rising to a crescendo. Racial injustice and Police Reform fueled everything from mild protests to direct action and civil disobedience. “Defund the Police” became a template for structural change.
Under Chief Buckner, the public was encouraged to come to a public meeting to discuss long simmering issues. The city came; most armed to vent and address grievances, Mayor Ben Walsh, Chief Buckner, and their staff(s) listened. This was the first-time law enforcement and city officials met in an open meeting with the public encouraged to speak. And speak they did.
That Bag of Doritos
The viral story of an eight-year-old boy and a bag of Dorito’s is the most publicity the Syracuse Police Department has ever received.
This story took on a life of its own, the damage threatened the very image of “inclusion” Syracuse is projecting to the world.
Overflowing Pot of Boiling Grits
Every crisis has a boiling point, a place in time where something must occur to bring the emotional temperature down. This crisis was now like a pot of hot grits boiling over on Syracuse’s stove.
We’ve seen it in National Politics where there’s a crisis and the next thing you know someone resigns, it’s abrupt and the result is an almost instantaneous reduction in the temperature of the situation.
While already selected as a finalist for another position Chief Buckner made a move that surprised everyone. He quit. In addition, he removed his name from consideration for the Olympia Washington position of Police Chief.
Instantly there was speculation as to the “why” and “why now?”
Chief Kenton Buckner’s resignation caused the temperature of this explosive event to suddenly dissipate. The heat on the stove of political hot grits was calmed. This singular action caused the metaphorical lid to be gently placed back on the pot.
In short, Chief Kenton Buckner sacrificed himself at the altar of the civil servant by resigning. The action saved Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh from having to further defend actions made by police. The crisis temperature immediately was reduced to normal.
Anatomy of a Police Crisis
- Petty Crime: Video of Child Being Detained by Syracuse Police Goes Viral
- National Action Network, Syracuse Chapter Response “8-year old’s encounter with Syracuse City Police on April 17, 2022
- Chief Buckner Announces Decision to Resign as Syracuse Police Chief
- Mayor Walsh Accepts Resignation of Kenton Buckner as Syracuse Police Chief
- Mayor Walsh Appoints Joseph Cecile as Syracuse’s New Chief of Police
Speaking with several members of the Syracuse Police Department after Buckner’s resignation it became clear that changes occurring under his leadership improved the department. Having implemented the Governor’s Justice Agenda, structurally changing the police department; creating a multiple leadership structure which enables any one of them to someday manage the Syracuse Police Department.
Sometimes individuals come into a city such as Syracuse with a mandate to fundamentally change the way things are being done. After a long citizen-community involved search, Kenton Buckner was chosen. In this analysis, it could be said that his tenure with the Syracuse Police Department was successful as there has been fundamental change. And perhaps after the searing heat and national attention from the “Doritos theft” he simply said, “I’ve had enough”.
