J.B. VAN HOLLEN
ATTORNEY GENERAL

Placing a Priority on Public Safety

Government exists to protect our life and liberty.  Public safety is government’s primary obligation.  Public safety requires laws that protect citizens from those who would deprive us of our life and liberty.  And it means adequate resources to enforce those laws.  This is why, in good economic times or bad, I believe public safety should have the first claim to the public treasury.

You know this first hand.  Local law enforcement officers, by and large, are responsible for responding to trouble and investigating crime.  At the Department of Justice, we assist local law enforcement by providing you with investigative support and technical expertise most efficiently developed with economies of scale, such as our crime labs.

The Department of Justice’s capacity to provide this assistance to local law enforcement was seriously threatened by a budget proposal that came out of the Joint Committee on Finance that imposed deeper cuts on the Department of Justice than any other state public safety agency.  If enacted, the proposal would have required significant layoffs to Department personnel who currently assist you without charge, such as crime lab analysts and DCI special agents.  It would have meant a remarkably slower, less responsive, and less helpful state partner to assist you in your fight against crime.

Many of you spoke up to tell your elected officials in Madison how your ability to do your job would be impaired if the Department of Justice is exposed to these inequitable cuts.  I am convinced that your voices helped the State Assembly, and ultimately the Legislature as a whole, restore the Department of Justice’s position to that of other state public safety agencies.  To be sure, the Department of Justice will receive cuts and will have to cut back on some services.  But the agency will not have to be overhauled to the detriment of public safety.  Thank you for your voices.  You proved, once again, that lawmakers will listen to law enforcement and appreciate law enforcement’s work.

In this budget cycle, I was happy to stand beside law enforcement and advocate against proposals in the budget that would have impaired public safety.  On some matters we were successful, such as our successful lobbying against proposals to eliminate front license plates and rejecting the proposal to charge local agencies to use the State Patrol’s accident reconstruction services.  In other areas, we were not successful.  I recognize that this budget cuts shared revenue (exacerbating local funding shortfalls), adds new unfunded mandates on law enforcement, and changes policy in ways that many regard as impairing safety.

This page created by the Department of Justice. All text, images or associated items are property of the Department of Justice, and may only be reproduced with the consent of the Department of Justice.
DOJ Home | Privacy Policy | Contact DOJ