Local law enforcement and the Isabella County Prosecutor are speaking out about how cutting the road patrol division in the county will impact the community.
County commissioners confirmed on Tuesday that they will be cutting the budget for the sheriff’s office by $3.7 million which is about 70 % of what they need to operate.
Commissioners are trying to figure out how to cut about $6 million from their budget after their operating levy failed to pass in February.
They are now forced to let go of 19 officers including sergeants, detectives, and road patrol deputies, leaving just the sheriff and undersheriff.
county commissioners said it was a difficult choice to make but with it being a big department, it was necessary in order to balance the budget.
The state does not mandate for a road patrol division, so it is considered non-essential, but the prosecutor and local police said they are from it and without them, the community will feel the impact.
“When we really need somebody right now in an emergency. An officer is fighting somebody. They’re chasing somebody, God forbid, a shots fired call and it could be a while before an officer gets back up there. That’s a huge concern for me,” said Sawyer.
Shepherd Police Chief, Luke Sawyer said the sheriff’s office is a huge partner for them.
He said because Shepherd Police are not a 24-7 operation, Isabella County would pick up the slack.
Sawyer said since they have a mutual aid agreement, they hope they can help return the favor, but it’s too soon to know what that might look like.
“The county itself is over 600 square miles. We can’t leave here and go, you know, to the far north part of the county or the far west part of the county to help out, because that takes away from our normal coverage area,” said Sawyer.
He said even with their help and other law enforcement in the area, like Michigan State Police, there’s only so much they can do.
“The sheriff’s department said they respond to about 17,000 incidents a year. And I don’t know, honestly, that the other agencies can pick up that slack,” said Sawyer.
Isabella County Prosecutor, David Barberi said response times for law enforcement will take longer and there may be a backlog of investigations, especially for non-violent crimes.
“We’re going to see things that would normally be resolved in 24 to 48 hours, take days, two weeks to resolve, because we’re not going to have that quick response time and that quick action from our local department,” said Barberi.
He said the lack of law enforcement officers may also cause an uptick in crime. That’s something the Prosecutor’s Office would not be able to respond as fast as before.
“It’s going to cause a detriment to the community by not having us be able to respond as quickly or to get as quick to charge a criminal complaint. And really, the victims are going to be the ones that are going to suffer,” said Barberi.
The Isabella County Command Officer’s Association and the Isabella County Deputy Sheriff’s Association is pushing for a public safety millage.
They are asking citizens to attend the upcoming board of commissioners meeting on April 2nd at 5 pm to request the millage be added to the August ballot.
