Civic Center

County Court House

Public Safety Building

The mission of the Facility Security Section is to provide for the security of all people visiting, conducting business with or working at the Courts, inside the County Court House and Public Safety Building, as well as the Civic Center and County Office Building. They assist the courts in maintaining the integrity of the judicial system by fulfilling mandated security standards by the New York State Unified Court System. The members of this section are comprised of police deputies, a Community Service Officer, and Court Security Officers.

The police deputies assigned to this section patrol and respond to calls for police services at five separate sites: the Civic Center, County Court House, Public Safety Building, County Office Building, and State Office Building. Their duties include patrolling these sites, handling disputes, disturbances and volatile situations, making arrests, safeguarding and securing court functions, judiciary and employees, and conducting investigations of any crime or suspicious activity. Their presence serves as a deterrent.

The Community Service Officer is neither a peace or police officer. Similar to a private security company, the C.S.O. serves as a uniform presence in the Department of Social Services within the Civic Center and as additional "eyes" for the police deputy Civic Center detail relaying information and activity that may be relevant to the security of the Civic Center.

A Court Security Officer is assigned to each specific courtroom, which includes Supreme Court, County Criminal Court, Surrogate Court, Family Court, and City of Syracuse Criminal, Traffic and Civil Courts. Their duties include:

• Monitoring and maintaining courtroom order
• Escorting jurors to and from court
• Remaining with drawn jurors to prevent prejudicial access
• Administering oaths during legal proceedings
• Taking legal materials and exhibits from attorneys and bringing to the judge
• Taking messages for judges and attorneys
• Giving information to the public concerning locations, times, and types of legal proceedings that are scheduled in the court house
• Performing security and security-associated duties covering entry into the court facilities and the individual courtrooms, public and private areas
• Responsible for providing initial screening of all persons entering the County Court House, Dedicated Matrimonial Court, County/City Court House, and Public Safety Building (Courts) to ensure that no weapons are carried into the facilities by operating the magnetometers in the County Court House and Public Safety Building along with observation, metal detection devices, and x-ray scanner