Groveland Twp.- In an effort to cut $349 million from the current state budget, the Michigan State Police will chop $1.7 million from their budget by laying-off 100 troopers statewide.
Those cuts will include three troopers from the township post who were assigned last December. The layoffs will reduce the number of troopers to nine at the post. Included in the layoff were, troopers Jeffery Rodgers, 25, of Swartz Creek, Eric Shumaker, 29, of St. Clair and Michael Liddy, 25, of Saginaw. They were among 83 graduated members of the 121st Trooper Recruit School.
‘It’s not a good news day,? said Shanon Akans, Michigan State Police public affairs officer.
‘This order does not include post closures and some of the smaller posts may be down to one trooper. It also means more stationary patrols; however, citizen safety will remain a priority. All calls for service that are life-threatening emergencies or in-progress crimes will be answered on a priority basis.?
Troopers will be required to minimize miles driven during dedicated patrol time, using travel to and from complaints to conduct traffic enforcement along the route, when appropriate.
The lay-offs of troopers will occur no later than July 1.
State Police Director Col. Peter Munoz notified the union last week of the department’s plans.
All new troopers participated in a 17-week field training program. During the program, new troopers are paired with experienced troopers in shifts. The program helps new troopers apply their studies to real-life police work and conduct investigations under the supervision of seasoned troopers.
With the addition of the 121st Trooper Recruit graduates, the MSP had 1,084 at-post troopers statewide at 64 posts.