Frederick Cornelius

Frederick Cornelius is a retired police officer with over 26 years of experience with the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office. He most recently held the position of Detective Lieutenant where he commanded the Criminal Investigations Division. He started with the Sheriff’s Department in 1995, after attending the Central New York Police Academy where he was the Valedictorian of his class. He worked in the Patrol Division from 1995 until 1998 with the last 18 months of that time being spent focused on DWI enforcement. In 1998 he was promoted to the position of Criminal Investigator, later changed to Detective, and held that position until 2007 when he was promoted to Detective Sergeant. He was predominantly charged with the investigation of Child Sexual Exploitation and pornography offenses for over 20 years. He was promoted to Detective Lieutenant in 2019. He held many positions in the Sheriff’s Office, including SWAT Team Leader, Evidence Technician, New York State Fire Investigator, Drug Recognition Expert, Accreditation Manager, Critical Incident Negotiations Team Leader, and others.

He has been a Certified Police Instructor for more than 18 years, teaching many topics in various police academies around Central New York as well as having an array of training responsibilities inside and outside the Sheriff’s Office. He currently holds a certification as a NYS Master Police Instructor. Fred is an Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice at Cayuga Community College.

Fred is married with five adult children and eight grandchildren. Prior to joining the Sheriff’s Office he worked in retail security and loss prevention for a couple of years. Prior to that he spent six years in the United States Air Force where he served as a non-commissioned officer in the field of Security and Law Enforcement.

Fred has an Associates of Applied Science in Criminal Justice, a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Administration, and Masters Degree in Public Administration.