Public safety gets boost in Michigan budget plan

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan's depleted law enforcement ranks would get a financial boost with a budget plan laid out Thursday by Gov. Rick Snyder, an attempt at reversing steady declines in officer numbers over the past decade.

The Republican governor's budget proposal also includes increased money for public schools and universities — with strings attached, tied to performance — and additional money in tax revenue sharing payments for local governments. Michigan's budget situation appears to have stabilized after years of fighting deficits, and the proposed $48.2 billion plan for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 represents a 2.4 percent increase from current spending levels.

Michigan's Republican-led Legislature will sort through the details of the Snyder plan and likely adopt a new budget in the late spring or early summer. A key component is public safety, important in a state that has lost more than 3,000 law enforcement officers in the past decade, according to the statistics from the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards.

Snyder again noted that Detroit, Flint, Pontiac and Saginaw rank among the nation's top 10 in violent crime.

"That's unacceptable," Snyder said. "We need to put a focus on that ... so I believe it's appropriate to make a significant investment in public safety."

Much of Snyder's broad proposal aims to help high-crime communities, although it's not yet known what the proposal would mean for law enforcement numbers in specific cities because details are not expected until March. The broad plan would provide a 16 percent funding boost to the Michigan State Police from the state's general fund, or roughly $43 million. That should clear the way for increased numbers of state troopers, pending ratification of a new contract with the troopers' union.

Detroit police Chief Ralph Godbee said he's "encouraged by the governor's commitment to investing in our youth, communities, and law enforcement."

"A holistic approach toward creating safe neighborhoods is more sustainable than just adding police alone" Godbee said in a statement Thursday night. "However, Detroit's most immediate need is additional boots on the ground, so to that end I look forward to hearing more of the details of the governor's plan."

The Michigan State Police had 949 troopers assigned to posts statewide as of late last month. That's down from about 1,350 a decade ago because of annual budget cuts. It's not yet known how many troopers might be added through Snyder's plan.