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APD expects negative effect from OSP trooper reductions By Myles Murphy Ashland Daily Tidings The failure of Measure 28 will have less of an impact on Ashland police than it will on Oregon state troopers, but in the interconnected law enforcement community, ripples are felt all over. Large cutbacks in Jackson County services for intoxicated people and other social services will leave police with fewer referral resources and fewer ways to help people in need. "That's problematic," APD Chief Scott Fleuter said this morning. "What do we do now?" Since Ashland police are funded by city taxes, the state cuts will not have a direct effect. But Fleuter fears severe reductions in the amount of training available to police - training provided by the state. "Who's going to train our officers?" Fleuter said. "That's going to be the number one concern for me." Also, the APD depends on the state crime lab for much of its examination of evidence. The crime lab will offer a reduced level of service, which will slow down the turnaround time for evidence. "It's going to make for a large backlog for our cases," Fleuter said. "And there are other things (resulting from the measure's failure) we won't know about for a while." At the state level, the Tuesday's election will result in layoff notices for 129 state troopers effective Feb. 1. The cuts signal tough times for security services throughout the state, too, including the release of prisoners. The failure of Measure 28 means that state officials must cut another $310 million in spending on education, social services and public safety. That means $6.1 million in cuts to the state police, or the dismissal of 129 troopers and 157 other staff, from secretaries to forensic scientists. It was unclear whether Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski and legislative leaders would do anything to forestall cuts. Kulongoski has said he won't let prisons close, for example. Republicans and Democrats were still split Tuesday night about what their next step would be. Senate President Peter Courtney said all the Legislature could do now was go back to working on the next two-year budget. "There is nothing I can do in the short term" to avoid the cuts, said the Salem Democrat. But House Majority Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend, said legislators will try to come up with an emergency care package. "Oregonians have spoken," said Knopp. But he did not elaborate on any public safety services that might be preserved. After the layoffs, there will be one trooper for every 13,800 Oregonians, said Jim Botwinis, president of the Oregon State Police Officers Association. Botwinis said Oregon's current ratio - one for every 10,000 - is already worse than any neighboring state. For example, California has one trooper per 5,200 residents. He said Oregonians will notice the difference. "Short of the Legislature doing a fix, the public can expect delayed responses to crashes, a 30 percent reduction in the arrest of drunk drivers, and some communities will have no services from the state police at all," Botwinis said. Multnomah County Sheriff Bernie Guisto announced Tuesday night that he would release 114 prisoners from jail and lay off 14 staff members, including nine sheriff's deputies. Guisto said the $1 million that his office will have to cut between now and July 1 left him no choice. "I have to release them (the prisoners)," said the sheriff. "I don't have money to hold them." The Associated Press contributed to this story LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -