03/25/2026
Refreshing to see a department stand behind their members! Onondaga County Sheriff's Office
The Full Record: In Defense of Deputy Joe Strom
The True Scope of a 26 Year Career
Real police work is not defined by a few negative paragraphs in a newspaper. It is built in the trenches over decades of service. Senior Road Patrol Deputy Joe Strom has spent 26 years, representing over 9,500 days, protecting the families of Onondaga County. His personnel file spans 31 pages and is a mountain of evidence that documents over three decades of leadership, life saving actions, and integrity.
A Documented Legacy of Heroism
Deputy Strom does not just do his job, he defines what it means to be a hero when minutes matter most.
The 2005 Medal of Honor: In June 2005, Joe was the first deputy on the scene of a burning apartment complex. He dove into thick, black smoke and carried a disabled elderly woman to safety. Despite suffering from severe smoke inhalation, he went back into the flames with a partner to rescue a second victim. He was hospitalized for his actions. He did not do it for a headline, he did it to save lives.
December 2025 Life Saving Rescue: Just recently, Deputy Strom and two other deputies saved a man in crisis. They utilized emergency medical measures to stop an arterial bleed, keeping the man alive long enough to get the help he needed.
Three Lives Saved in Six Months: Since the reporter first started asking questions about Deputy Strom for this article, Joe has continued to prove his absolute value to the community. In just the last six months alone, he has been directly involved in three separate life saving situations where a citizen's life was on the line. While the press focuses on the past, Joe is out on the road actively keeping people alive today.
Unmatched Effectiveness on the road
A career is defined by the thousands of quiet moments where a deputy chooses professional excellence and public safety.
Preventing Tragedies: With over 1,000 DWI arrests, Joe has consistently led the department in removing impaired drivers from the road. That statistic represents hundreds of families who did not lose a loved one to a drunk driver because Joe was on watch.
Balancing Accountability and Education: Through more than 12,000 citations and tens of thousands of warnings, Joe has mastered the balance of educating the public while strictly enforcing the law.
Accountability and Moving Forward
Policing is an incredibly demanding, high adrenaline profession. In those fast moving, complex environments, mistakes happen. When procedural errors occurred during past high speed pursuits, Deputy Strom was held accountable. Mistakes were made, but he took responsibility and fully served his punishment. This included having days taken away and being pulled from the road for a month. He accepted the discipline, completed it without issue, and returned to the road to continue protecting this community.
The Bottom Line
When you dial 911 at 3:00 AM, you want the person who has seen it all, someone who stays calm in the fire and has spent 26 years keeping Onondaga County safe. The recent article attempts to minimize a lifetime of sacrifice, but the results speak for themselves. We stand with Deputy Joe Strom because he has earned it through courage, relentless professionalism, and a true dedication to public safety.
