Cuts Coming? DPS Acknowledges $8.9 Million To Trim

By Chris Earl, Anchor/Reporter

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By Chris Earl

Story Created: Oct 13, 2009 at 3:01 PM CST

Story Updated: Oct 13, 2009 at 4:50 PM CST

IOWA CITY - With teamwork being so essential in law enforcement, would the possibility of taking some troopers off patrols have a real effect for people in Eastern Iowa?

Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek thinks so.

"That means more additional drunk drivers are going to be missed out at night," Pulkrabek said. "That means lives lost. When you have drunk drivers not being apprehended, that costs lives. "

Following Governor Chet Culver's call for a 10% cut of state agencies last week, state departments are trying to work out the numbers this week in Des Moines.

On Tuesday, State Patrol district offices throughout Eastern Iowa directed all of our questions to Des Moines. Courtney Greene of the Department of Public Safety told us "every department is struggling" and "they want to make sure they maintain the 10% figure but also the safety of Iowans".

Pulkrabek said, if his staff must cover what the State Patrol cannot cover as deeply, the effect would be seen on rural roads. He said he would have to put the deputies on patrol along Interstate 380 instead of the rural roads of Johnson County.

Sheriff Pulkrabek already calls his department short-staffed and adds that, with the current economy, these are times where more crime is out there for law enforcement to deal with.

"It's disappointing to see public safety get cut because when we're in this type of economy, you see crime and these problems rise," Pulkrabek said. "It's like an additional poke in the ribs to our staff."

Also on Tuesday afternoon, Eugene Meyer, Commissioner of the Iowa Department of Public Safety, acknowledged the $8.9 million dollar cut to the department and that job reductions would be coming.

"This will not be an easy task and all options have been, and continue to be, taken into consideration," Meyer wrote on the department's web site.

Final decisions on budget cuts are expected by the end of the month.

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