Another missing piece to the puzzle of who’s running for Onondaga County Sheriff this year became clearer today. Sheriff Kevin Walsh’s longstanding career for the county’s top law enforcement job has spanned 20 years and he was also on the force for another 20 years prior. Walsh threw a bit of a curveball when he first said that he wasn’t retiring and discussed his many teaching jobs in law enforcement that he intends to continue. However, what about his current job?
“…to paraphrase LBJ, I should neither seek nor accept my party’s nomination for a 6th term as Onondaga County Sheriff.”
Walsh adds that he’s really going into a different phase of his career and life. There’s been countless cases the Sheriff has been involved with over the years; some even gained national attention.
“The best cases obviously are the ones we were able to help the victims. That we were able to bring a satisfactory conclusion to their issues. If that meant arresting a criminal, that’s fine. But, for every crime that we were able to prevent, we prevented one victim, those were important things to us too.”
Among his many accomplishments, Walsh says the department worked with the National Sheriff’s Association to change laws to allow police officers on the job to run for Sheriff. County Deputy Chief John Balloni hasn’t officially announced his intentions but, has held fundraisers. DeWitt Police Chief Gene Conway is seeking the Republican nomination. On the Democratic side, Retired Deputy Toby Shelly and present Deputy Craig Dykes are running.
