Buckner joins Rescue Mission board of directors

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse Police Chief Kenton Buckner has recently joined the board of directors of The Rescue Mission Alliance. 

The board has 17 community leaders who are dedicated to helping men, women, and families struggling with homelessness and hunger in Central New York, the alliance said in a release. 

Buckner, who was sworn in as chief of police for the Syracuse Police Department in November 2018, began his law-enforcement career in 1993. He served 21 years for the Louisville Metro Police Department, where he rose through the ranks to the position of assistant chief. 

Buckner holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Eastern Kentucky University. He is a graduate of law-enforcement programs sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Southern Police Institute, and the NOBLE Chief Executive Officer Mentoring Program. Buckner is a commissioner for the Commission on Accreditation Law Enforcement Agencies, and recently completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. As a proponent of community policing, Buckner has always worked to develop a strong relationship with community stakeholders, and other local, state, and federal law-enforcement partners, per the release.

The Rescue Mission Alliance of Syracuse is a nonprofit that says it is fighting to end homelessness and hunger across upstate New York. It has operations in Syracuse, Auburn, and Binghamton.