After 45 years in law enforcement, Onondaga County Sheriff Eugene Conway is hanging up his badge.

“It’s been a long career, but it’s been a very rewarding career,” Conway said.

Conway started his career in 1977 with the Village of North Syracuse Police Department. He went to the sheriff’s office, he said, a year later.

“In 2002, I left the sheriff’s office to become the police chief in the town of Dewitt, where I served for 12 years,” he said. “Then in 2014, ran for the office of sheriff, and I’m not completing my second term.”

Conway says he has enjoyed his career, noting he finds it both rewarding and challenging.

“It’s always something new every single day,” Conway said. “But it gives you a chance obviously to help people, which is what this is really all about, this profession.”

He said he’ll miss his fellow officers the most and will miss supporting them in the job, but Conway believes it’s time to pass the position to the next person.

“This profession never closes,” he said. “We never shut down. And at some point we hand it off to the next person.

“I’m looking forward to just focusing all my attention and energy on [my family]. Because for the last 45 years, that hasn’t been the case.”

Conway will be leaving office at the end of the year and Toby Shelly will be taking over as sheriff.