By Sascha Cordner
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-990569.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – A Senate Budget Committee that allocates funds for criminal and civil justice agencies got a brief look at what kinds of cuts those agencies are willing to take in their budgets during the next upcoming session. As Sascha Cordner reports, the state agencies presented some of their top funding priorities as well.
Members from the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations listened to several presentations from state public safety agencies during a meeting Thursday. Republican Senator Mike Fasano of New Port Richey, the chair of the committee, says there were a few things that stood out to him, like part of the presentation from the Department of Juvenile Justice:
"We want to make certain and I saw where they [DJJ] want to continue to fund preventive programs for our young people, so that we can capture them, and I don't mean capture them and put them in jail, I mean capture them early when see a problem and help that young person before they do become a bigger problem and we have to put them in jail."
Another agency that interested Senator Fasano was the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Fasano says his committee wants to make sure that law enforcement officers across the state have the tools they need to continue to fight crime and keep crime down.