Tompkins County will not pursue a shared public safety complex with the City of Ithaca

Tompkins County Legislature has voted against moving forward with a proposal to co-locate the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office and the Ithaca Police Department at a shared site. The 5-8 vote came about a year after the county and city agreed to commission a preliminary study to identify possible shared sites, and after significant debate during Tuesday’s meeting.

A vote for the resolution on the floor would not have assured co-location was in the future for the two law enforcement agencies; it would have been an incremental step toward a final decision, authorizing staff to define the scope and estimate the budget for an in-depth feasibility study. A vote against the resolution, however, effectively scuttled the possibility of co-location.