"Public safety leaders expressed grave concerns about the fallout from next year's budget Contra Costa County leaders unanimously adopted Tuesday that would end gang injunction plans, certain sex offender registration enforcement and "zero tolerance" enforcement of domestic violence.
The nearly $50 million in cuts from the $1.2 billion county spending blueprint will lead to service cuts across the board.
But officials from the district attorney, sheriff and probation offices say that it contains disproportionate cuts to their departments and will put county residents at risk.
A $1.4 million budget shortfall to the district attorney's office means it has to eliminate nine attorneys and three inspectors, which would leave 78 prosecutors for a county that is third in the state for homicides per capita. The cuts would leave 20 percent fewer attorneys than the office had in 2005.
Without an adequate staffing level, Peterson says the office plans to abandon its "zero tolerance policy" on domestic violence, and so some batterers who would have been aggressively prosecuted on felony charges will more likely get slapped with a misdemeanor or not be charged at all."...........read more here
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