Michigan Governor to Announce Crime-Fighting Plan

Crushing budget cuts have left Michigan with 3,400 fewer law enforcement officers than it had 10 years ago, and the state now has four cities — Detroit, Flint, Pontiac and Saginaw –  that are among the 10 most dangerous in the nation when it comes to violent crime.

“That’s unacceptable,” Republican Governor Rick Snyder said in his executive budget address earlier this year.

Today (March 7), Snyder will offer his solutions to the problem, delivering a high-profile speech in Flint to introduce new ways to improve public safety.

The Associated Press reports that Snyder’s plan is expected to include $15 million for what he calls an “enhancement” of law enforcement capabilities. The governor wants to provide more resources to the state police and the state forensics lab, and is also expected to emphasize crime prevention and recidivism reduction programs, the AP reports.

According to the AP, “Michigan lost nearly 15 percent of its civilian and officer law enforcement employees combined from 2001 through 2010, the steepest percentage drop in the U.S.”