Phoenix could delay filling 250 vacant police-officer positions, eliminate dozens of civilian public-safety employees and reduce emergency resources to help offset the city’s $270 million budget deficit, says the Arizona Republic. Budget cuts aimed at the city’s police and fire departments are expected to total $54.4 million, or around 7.5 percent of their operating budgets.
In Phoenix, the proposed public-safety cuts are much smaller than what most area departments are facing to balance the city’s budget. Tthe Phoenix Law Department is expected to trim nearly 15 percent of its budget, or more than $3.3 million. The cuts would eliminate 28 positions, including assistant city attorneys assigned to specialty details like those who help prosecute domestic-violence and federal weapons charges.
Link: http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2009/01/19/20090119safety0119.html