Tax collections that pay for police services falling in troubled economy
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By Kevin Bohn
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) — U.S. police departments are streamlining patrols, reducing training and cutting back on some preventative programs as their budgets fall victim to the struggling economy.
Many police chiefs are warning deeper cuts may be coming.
Naperville, Illinois, a middle-class city of about 145,000 people, has a force of 189 officers and 114 civilians. Because of a reduction in real-estate and property tax collections that pay for public safety services, Chief David Dial is cutting nine vacant positions, including three officers, and $60,000 out of his training budget.
“We’ve gone through the non-personnel related expenses in our budget, and we’ve cut everything that we possibly can in there,” Dial said. “Some of our training monies have been drastically reduced, and there is virtually nowhere else to cut ... except in the personnel area.”