Cayuga Community College Auditorium, September 14, 2020
(Left to Right) Harriet Tubman Center for Justice & Peace (HTCJP) board members, Steve Webster, Jack Hardy, Dr. Lou Lombardo, Undersheriff Wm. Steven Smith, Sheriff Brian Schenck and bill berry, jr., Chair, HTCJP (photo credit: Lisa Brennan)
Monday, September 14, 2020 at 2 PM in the auditorium of Cayuga Community College, SUNY, the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office presented a community initiative that poignantly detailed “Who We Are… What We Do…How We Do It” via YouTube and live-streamed on the Harriet Tubman Center for Justice and Peace (HTCJP) Facebook page. The Tubman Center was the principal sponsor in its ongoing series of “Connecting Bridges” community engagement discussions in partnership with the Auburn/Cayuga branch of the NAACP and the City of Auburn’s Human Rights Commission.
The second and final local law enforcement dialogue was developed to enhance the larger community’s understanding of county public safety issues and practices. (The City of Auburn Police Department (APD) did the initial presentation on August 10 led by APD Chief Shawn Butler.) The CCSO led by Sheriff Brian Schenck and Undersheriff William Steven Smith , as well as their colleagues who are the Command Officers, adroitly detailed and articulated the agency’s mission, policies, protocols, practices, proactive community engagement, and officer wellness to a limited in presence audience due to Covid -19. Invited audience members wore facial covering and were physically distanced by pre-arranged seating. Upon arrival, participants were temperature checked and responded to the Covid-19 inquiry questionnaire while also providing contact data in case there was a need for contract tracing.)
Enjoy the slide show below of the presentation by the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office. (Photo credit for all images: Lisa Brennan, HTCJP Secretary)
Please click the play button below to view the full LIVE STREAM
Questions or concerns regarding the presentation may be addressed directly to Sheriff Brian Schenck via sheriff@cayugacounty.us
The Harriet Tubman Center for Justice and Peace appreciates and applauds CCSO and APD for its willingness to remain transparent; engage community members in conversation even when such dialogue may be difficult; proactively work to discover pathways to not only better serve and protect the community but for non-law enforcement neighbors to see officers as meaningful residents whose job does not define who they are as people; embrace them as fellow neighbors and along with other front line “protectors,” embrace the fact that they keep all of us locally safe and equally protected. Their mission. Our expectation. Together. One community.
This is…The Auburn/Cayuga Way.