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Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Cuts Mean Fewer Cops, But How Many?
By Charles D. Brunt
Journal Staff Writer
Mandated cutbacks within the New Mexico Department of Public Safety will mean fewer State Police officers on the street, a union president and a DPS spokesman said.
They disagree, however, on how many fewer state badges that might be.
George Bernal, president of the New Mexico State Police Association, says the state is already 100 officers short of the number needed to meet the state's needs, and that cancellation of both 20-week police academies slated for fiscal year 2010 will cut the force even further.
Under the terms of a budget-balancing executive order issued last week by Gov. Bill Richardson, the Department of Public Safety, one division of which is the State Police, is slated to be cut by 3 percent. That will trim the DPS budget $94.8 million to $92 million, a decrease of about $2.8 million. DPS' budget for this year is now about 7.8 percent less than last year's.
DPS spokesman Peter Olson says the state is short about 85 officers.
He also said graduates of the current police academy, which still has 20 cadets after 14 demanding weeks, will more than offset the anticipated retirement of six to eight officers this year.
"We have every expectation that they will make it through the last six weeks and become officers on the street," Olson said Tuesday. But, he said, "Clearly, when people retire, we can't replace them without an academy."
Bernal also said the cutbacks will relegate State Police to responding to emergencies instead of being "proactive" about law enforcement.
"We will continue to work to provide that public safety that we are mandated to provide," Olson said regarding Bernal's assertion. "It may be, in some rural communities that don't have any law enforcement except State Police, that it might take a little longer to respond. But, as always, we will still get to emergency scenes as quickly as possible."
Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said earlier this week that administrators at public safety agencies are expected to seek exemptions from the planned five-day furloughs planned for many state workers.
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