Syracuse police say crime at Destiny USA has dropped about 50 percent since last November

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse Police Deputy Chief Mark Rusin says Destiny USA has seen property crime cut in half in the last six months. “In the month of November 2023, there were 145 property crimes reported. Since then, we have had an approximately 50 percent reduction in calls,” Rusin said. “There have been 283 arrests, 72 of which have resulted in a felony charge.” Rusin was citing data collected since the beginning of the Destiny USA property crimes task force, saying, “I think the progress we’ve seen is very promising and we continue to seek areas of improvement.” The task force, which includes Destiny USA, the Syracuse Police Department, and the Onondaga County District Attorney’s (DA’s) office was formed last November to focus on criminal activity at the mall and in the community as well. The group gathered Thursday to discuss the formation of task force, which was created to “enhance the safety and security of the 16 million people that visit Destiny USA each year,” Syracuse Police Sergeant Thomas Blake, a member of the department’s public-relations team, said in remarks to open the Thursday morning event in the Destiny USA Canyon area. Prior to launch of the task force, Syracuse police met with Destiny USA senior management to outline the strategies police wanted to take, Rusin said. At the same time, he also asked Destiny USA to commit to another 24 hours of funding to have investigative time for the department’s officers. “Prior to that, we had 225 hours that were funded by Destiny USA for police officers to be here,” Rusin said. “I was asking for an additional 24 hours of investigative time.” One of the strategies was to have more police at the mall complex, both on foot and on bike, including those officers who had traditionally patrolled the mall area in a police car. The department also put a new recruiting class on mall duty as well. It also hosted a meeting with loss-prevention officers and all of Destiny USA’s storefronts to get feedback on concerns. The department also worked with the DA’s office to determine who are the top retail-theft offenders and repeat offenders at the mall and in the overall community. “I felt these strategies would be impactful both on the perception of safety and the reported crime data,” Rusin said. “I felt confident because I knew we had strong relationships with the DA’s office and with Destiny.” Rusin also used his remarks to remember the late Syracuse Police Officer Michael Jensen, who was one of the officers who started on the bike patrol at the mall. Jensen was killed April 14 along with Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department Lieutenant Michael Hoosock in a shooting in the town of Salina. Destiny USA takes the “safety and security and comfort of our guests,” which include the visitors, its own staff, and the staff of each tenant that occupies space at the complex, very seriously, Stephen Congel, CEO of Pyramid Management Group, which operates Destiny USA, said in his remarks at the event. “When faced with the plague that really ran throughout our nation, we knew we had to do something different and step up with a renewed and enhanced effort,” Congel added. He also lauded the 50 percent drop in property crime at Destiny USA in the last six months. “These positive results have only enhanced our resolve to continue to invest in additional programs and partnerships that will maintain that level of resolve,” Congel said.