City, County Patrols Will Feel Impact of State Police Cuts
By Karen Gould

Local police agencies say they will feel the impact of Michigan State Police cuts as the department continues to slice services, jobs, and consolidate state police posts to balance its $13.6 million projected budget deficit. Eight officers in the Upper Peninsula could loss their jobs in June, and last week it was announced that the Calumet post could close October 1.

In the past five years or so, Michigan has lost about 1,600 police, said Mackinac County Sheriff Scott Strait. At a time when international and border security concerns are heightened, "We keep losing officers."

State cuts, he said, shift the financial burden and more of the workload to county and city police.

Reductions in State Police staffing in the area already have been felt in St. Ignace, said Police Chief Tim Matelski, who has told State Representative Gary McDowell the state should maintain current staffing levels at the Newberry and St. Ignace State Police posts.

"I'd like to see more troopers here," he said, "but that's not going to happen."

The cuts have required the city police to expand their response area by approximately five miles out of the city limits. A city policeman may be the closest officer able to respond to a complaint or accident, said Chief Matelski, and sometimes the severity of the situation is not known until officers arrive on the scene. City officers are deputized by the Mackinac County Sheriff's Department. They receive back-up support from Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians police.

"We are always available," he said. "We do not leave the town unprotected, but we do go when we're needed."

Five tribal officers are stationed in Mackinac County, said Cory Wilson, communications director for the tribe.

Cooperation between departments may be key to the future of law enforcement as State Police rely more heavily on local agencies.

"We are very much an entity that pools its resources from agency to agency," said State Police Inspector agency," said State Police Inspector Donald Poupore, assistant district commander at Marquette. "We have to work together in the Upper Peninsula to get the job done."

Seventeen officers are assigned to the St. Ignace post, and none have been cut, but other department cuts will affect operations here, said Lieutenant Curt Robertson, the post commander. The number of miles troopers can drive has been restricted, for one thing. The post is responsible for patrolling 1,147 square miles in Mackinac County, plus Trout Lake in Chippewa County, and patrols include 30 miles along I- 75, 149 miles of US-2, and M- 134 and M-123.

Ways being discussed to reduce travel, Lt. Robertson said, are changes in the way car-deer accidents are handled. Rather than directing a trooper to the accident scene, he said, drivers now may be asked to come in to the post to fill out an accident report.

In part because of the Mackinac Bridge, he said, St. Ignace is considered a vital post to Homeland Security. The post is just west of the bridge toll plaza, and it has some responsibility for patrol and security at the bridge.

Mackinac Bridge Executive Secretary Bob Sweeney said his agency has a close working relationship with the post.

With the potential for more budget cuts, Sheriff Strait said his department could be affected in a number of ways, including reduced state funds for training and special programs like the US- 2 enforcement plan, Operation SABRE (Speed, Aggressive Driving, Belts, Rural Enforcement), reduced inmate reimbursement payments, and reduced secondary road patrol funds that help offset the cost of one county deputy.

"If these programs take a hit," said Sheriff Strait, "we will lose money that puts people out there on patrol."

Any cut in funding for secondary road patrols will strain county operations, he said. As it now stands, with the State Police restrictions on travel, the secondary road patrol deputies have to respond to more calls.

The county is reimbursed for housing some inmates, like those who violate parole, and if this funding is lost, the added expense to house the inmates will fall to the county. Last year, the Sheriff Strait's department was reimbursed $25,000 to house diverted felons and parole violators.

"The state is pushing the financial burden down to the counties," he said. "We do the best we can with the dollars we have."

The Sheriff Department's main office is in St. Ignace, and remote offices are in Curtis and Cedarville. The department has 26 employees, of which nine are seasonal or part-time.

Sheriff Strait oversees 11 budgets that total approximately $2 million, which includes road patrols, secondary road patrols, marine safety, snowmobile safety, community corrections, corrections officer training, justice training, commissary fund, Bois Blanc Island, federal forest patrol, and off-road vehicle patrol. The state requires that the budgets are kept separate for accounting purposes.

The technical support provided by Michigan State Police includes polygraphs and crime laboratory tests used during investigations, said Sheriff Strait. With one polygraph position already cut in the Upper Peninsula, concerns are that more cuts in these areas will delay test results and lengthen investigation times.

County-wide, he said, in 2006, arrests were up almost 50 percent for misdemeanor crimes, including bad checks and disorderly persons. While traffic accidents have declined, his department is investigating more crimes. From 2005 to 2006 his deputies drove fewer miles, used less gas, and worked more hours because they spent more time on investigations.

"We are just going to have to be smarter on how we're going to use the money," said Sheriff Strait.