MSP cuts could compromise safety

WAYLAND, Mich. (Newschannel 3) - On Tuesday, Gov. Granholm announced that 100 Michigan State Police troopers would be laid off, due to a $1.3 billion state budget deficit.

While $1 billion of that deficit will be covered by federal stimulus money coming into the state, the cuts to the MSP come in an effort to balance the nearly $350 million left over.

The plight of the MSP is an example of how quickly things have gone from bad to worse in Michigan. Late last year, the MSP hired and trained its first batch of new recruits since 2004, and now, just months later, almost every one of them will lose their jobs.

But many people are asking: Is Michigan's economic crisis compromising our safety?

The cuts will mean fewer troopers patrolling our roadways, and less staffing for crime investigations and drug enforcement, which could have an impact on crime and safety in our local communities.

Newschannel 3 has learned that cuts at the MSP post in Wayland will mean that much of Allegan County soon won't have any troopers patrolling its roadways in the early morning hours of 2 a.m. to 4 a.m., which could mean you'll have to wait for help in a time of need.

And Wayland Police Chief Dan Miller believes that will create a trickle-down effect to the local police level. He told Newschannel 3 that he's supposed to have a staffed State Police post right around the corner, but now three troopers will be laid off, leaving less than a dozen troopers to do the job that 20 used to do.

"Due to the reduction in State Police workforce, we'll be called on more times than not to go outside our jurisdiction, to assist citizens up in this part of the county," he said.

Chief Miller says his officers could be dispatched as far as 15 miles outside the city limits to help out on priority calls during the early morning hours, at a time when the Allegan Co. Sheriff's Department is limited as well.

And while he says he doesn't mind lending his officers in a time of need, local taxpayers are expecting to keep their local police force local.

Nearly every State Police post in West Michigan will lose at least one trooper, and if the layoffs do happen at the end of June as expected, the MSP will be at its lowest trooper strength in decades.