Officials Say New County Budget Could Endanger Law Enforcement
DETROIT (WWJ) A new $2.1 billion budget was cleared Thursday by the Wayne County Board of Commissioners -- but that's not good news for everyone.
WWJ NewsRadio 950's Rob Sanford reported there are complaints some of the cuts could reduce public safety to a dangerous level.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy reportedly said she plans to sue to get a temporary restraining order to stop cuts in her department because if the spending reduction went through as is, she would have to lay off nearly half her legal staff.
Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon has also been critical of the budget, claiming he would have to free some prisoners in order to bring down costs under the new budget. Initially, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano requested department heads to cut budgets by 20 percent, but the overall budget declined only 2 percent -- to $542 in the upcoming fiscal year from $533 million.
It's unclear how cuts will be made in individual departments, but Napoleon requested $105 million to run his department, including jails, and was given $85 million.
