Deputy Chief Richard Trudeau told the Syracuse City Public Safety Committee that juvenile arrests rose after pandemic-era lows and peaked in 2024 with roughly 685 arrests in the county and about 368 in the city.

"We peak at, 2024 with 6 85 arrests in the county and 3 68 in the city," Trudeau said, and noted the department’s analysis shows a small percentage of juveniles account for a disproportionate share of offenses.

Trudeau described a multi-pronged approach combining enforcement where necessary and diversion programs such as Powell and Trinity, plus closer information-sharing with probation and county attorneys. He said focused, biweekly meetings to identify high-risk youth have helped reduce repeat arrests: "we meet biweekly to talk about the...1%–2% of the kids that are causing all the problems."

Committee members asked about court processing and equity; Trudeau said a smaller set of family-court judges now handle many juvenile cases and that he could follow up on demographic questions of which judges hear the cases. He also said Trinity’s operations are largely funded through police grants and administered in partnership with the Salvation Army; he agreed to provide yearly participation numbers.

Members raised a prior incident in which county sheriff deputies made an arrest in the city that drew concern. Trudeau said the Syracuse Police Department cannot unilaterally change another agency’s policies but that informal conversations followed the incident. He also said SIPD revised internal procedures after the event, adding mandatory parental notification in some circumstances and clarifying limits on handcuffing when diversion (not arrest) is the end plan.

"We don't really have an avenue to regulate an agency like, the county... we can't dictate their policy," Trudeau said, while adding the city has increased coordination and will pursue more conversations with the sheriff's office.

Committee members asked for follow-up data (Trinity participation counts, more detail on recidivism) and discussed ways to enhance collaboration so that when outside agencies operate in the city SIPD presence or two-way communication can reduce community harms. No formal votes were recorded on policy changes during the meeting.