Chief Police Deputy Matthew Fischer

Matt Fischer is a life-long resident of Onondaga County. He joined the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office Police Division in July of 2002 and recently retired from the Sheriff’s Office in November, 2022. He spent the first half of his career as a Deputy assigned to Road Patrol; developing detailed knowledge of every neighborhood the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office patrols. Early in his career, he became a Field Training Officer. As a Field Training Officer, he trained newly-hired deputies upon their release from the police academy. He was also a recipient of the Sheriff’s Office Certificate of Merit Award for de-escalating a suicidal subject and preventing that person’s attempted suicide. In 2013, he was promoted to sergeant and served in a supervisory role on Road Patrol for the duration of his career. As a sergeant, he held supervisory roles in several ancillary areas, including Public Order, Emergency Management, and the Field Training Program. As a Field Training Supervisor, he trained newly-promoted sergeants and also supervised the field training of newly-hired deputies. He also held a leadership role in the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Police Association from 2019-2022; serving as the Secretary and 1st Vice President. Throughout his career, he has worked with, worked for, or supervised every current member of the Sheriff’s Office.

 Chief Fischer is responsible for the management and supervision of the Police Department, which consist of the Road Patrol, Criminal Investigations and Special Enforcement areas of the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office.

 

Chief Special Enforcement Deputy Craig Belcher

Craig Belcher Joined the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office Police Division in January of 2000 and recently retired from the Sheriff’s Office in September of 2023. He began his career working Road Patrol. In June of 2002 he successfully completed a SWAT operator’s course and became a member of the Sheriff’s Office SWAT Reconnaissance Team. During his career on SWAT he was assigned leadership roles as a Team Leader and eventually to the position of Assistant Team Commander in 2018. He remained in this position until his retirement in 2023. In March of 2003, he was selected to become a Canine Handler for the Sheriff’s Office. He spent a large portion of his career working road patrol as a Canine Handler. He eventually worked with three different Canine’s throughout his career, two that specialized in criminal apprehensions/explosive detection and one that specialized in criminal apprehensions/narcotics detection. Chief Belcher and his Canine partners received multiple awards and medals for their accomplishments working road patrol. In 2011 Chief Belcher completed his training to become the Canine Trainer for the Sheriff’s Office. Since that time he has trained a large number of Canine teams for the Sheriff’s Office and multiple police agencies across New York State. In 2018 he was promoted to sergeant and served as a supervisor on Road Patrol and the Canine Unit, while continuing his role as the Canine Trainer. In February of 2023 he was assigned as the supervisor of the Counter Terrorism Team and remained as an advisor to the Caine Program. 
 Chief Belcher is responsible for the management and supervision of the Special Enforcement Division of the Sheriff’s Office, which consist of the SWAT Team, Canine Unit, Air One, Emergency Management, EOD, Navigation, Dive Team, Armory, Negotiators, Drone Team, Counter Terrorism Team, Staff Development and Services.

 

Our Mission

It is the Mission of the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office Police Department to provide the citizens of Onondaga County a full service professional law enforcement agency to protect life and property, reduce the opportunity for crime and disorder, enforce all laws, assist victims and provide other police-related services as required by the community. The daily focus of the Police Department is to successfully execute our law enforcement operations with compassion and courage, holding ourselves and each other accountable for our actions at all times, with the goal to provide the highest level of Police service to safeguard the community.