Police and thieves on the streets … or just the thieves

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At last count, Kansas City is at 33 homicides on the year. Now comes word that 31 police recruits will be getting pink slips once they graduate from the Police Academy to help cover the Kansas City Police Department’s $15 million budget shortfall. Not to mention, Kansas City Police Chief Jim Corwin said 42 vacant officer jobs won’t be filled. Add in retirements (there are 10 mandatory retirements this year), and we could be seeing a hundred fewer officers on the streets. The Kansas City Star reports that police officials are also considering:

• shutting down the helicopter unit: $412,134
• eliminating off-site training: $218,424
• requiring 40-hour furloughs: $2.6 million
• laying off 22 civilians on June 30 and 84 officers on August 22: $3.6 million
• not adding money to self-insurance fund: $1 million
• not buying new vehicles: $1 million

The final decision on cuts is expected on May 1.