Headlines

Michigan Police Ranks Down 16 Percent In Decade

Posted: 1:23 PM Dec 30, 2012
Reporter: Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan has 16 percent fewer police officers on the street now than it did a decade ago, and communities around the state are trying to find more efficient ways to keep people safe.

The Detroit Free Press reports that state and local police agencies have an estimated 18,849 officers today, compared with 22,488 in 2001.

The plunge in property values and the economic losses that struck during the Great Recession have pinched city, township and county budgets. Voters in some communities have approved taxes to keep police and fire services, while others have rejected them.

Detroit has lost police officers while also seeing most major crimes drop, even as homicides have risen.

A County takeover of local policing has taken place in Pontiac and is upcoming in New Haven.