Governor Rick Snyder says he’s looking to overhaul corrections and criminal justice in the coming year.
As we hear from The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta, the governor spoke to a graduating class of corrections officers.
The governor told the recruits that looking to corrections as a place to reduce spending during the recession was “unwise.” The state’s cut a quarter of a billion dollars in corrections spending since Governor Snyder took office nearly three years ago.
The governor says now prisons need things like security upgrades, and more cameras, and that’s just part of modernizing corrections and law enforcement.
“All of us in the state of Michigan are committed to improving our entire criminal justice system to show the world we can do this better than anyone else,” he says.
Governor Snyder says he will roll out details next year. He also wants more investment in substance abuse and mental health services that can help keep people from being sent to prison.