- Local
- Community
- Journalism
Support the independent voice of Phoenix and help keep the future of New Times free.
Governor Jan Brewer told state agencies last month to submit budget plans that would incorporate a 15 percent cut in current funding.
Brewer says the cuts are not necessarily going to happen but wants to use the plans to determine the impact they would have on each agency, if and when the cuts would need to be implemented.
For the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the outlook is grim.
According to the DPS budget report, if the agency were to lose the 15 percent of funding it currently projects to need, it would force a reduction of nearly 600 officers.
In a press release, DPS Director Roger Vanderpool says cuts this deep would say to drug and human-smuggling cartels that
Vanderpool says highway patrol units would be hit particularly hard, and the result would be slower response times. Motorists in outlying areas of the state would essentially be "on their own," he says.
Hopefully "on our own" means we get to determine "our own" speed limits in these areas, too.
Keep Phoenix New Times Free... Since we started Phoenix New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Phoenix, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering Phoenix with no paywalls.