By Tim Martin
Associated Press
LANSING (AP) — Republican Gov.-elect Rick Snyder has announced formation of a panel to look at making Michigan’s law enforcement services more efficient across the state in an era of stressed government budgets.
The advisory panel will include Lt. Col. Kriste Etue, who will be promoted to director of the Michigan State Police under Snyder.
Etue, the first woman to hold the top job with the state police, will be joined on the panel by 10 others including Attorney General-elect Bill Schuette and Macomb County sheriff and incoming county executive Mark Hackel.
The state has lost more than 2,600 law enforcement positions since 2001 — roughly an 11 percent drop, according to statistics compiled by the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards.
Local governments and the Michigan State Police have lost positions because of budget cuts caused in large part by the state’s economic troubles.
The state faces an overall budget shortfall of roughly $1.7 billion for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, which will further squeeze law enforcement budgets.
The Snyder panel will examine ways to provide better police service by boosting cooperation among agencies while reducing redundant services and cutting costs.
“We have a very diverse state, so it’s understanding the differing needs between some of our more rural areas versus the urban areas,” Snyder said. “It’s really doing an inventory of the assets we have available.”
The panel will be chaired by Ottawa County Sheriff Gary Rosema.
Etue, a deputy director for the Michigan State Police, started with the agency as a trooper in 1987.
Snyder also announced he is keeping Kirk Steudle on board as the director of the Michigan Department of Transportation.
Steudle has led the department since 2006 under Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and he’s been with the department since the late 1980s.
The Department of Transportation under Granholm and Steudle has pushed for the state to enter a public-private partnership that would allow the building of a second bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.
Snyder said his administration is still doing “due diligence” on researching the proposed Detroit River International Crossing project to evaluate its potential costs and benefits.
Snyder will be sworn into office on Jan. 1.
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