WREX.com – Rockford’s News LeaderLayoffs, lost cruisers: Sheriff's headaches mount
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Associated Press - September 26, 2009 11:04 AM ET
CAIRO, Ill. (AP) - In Alexander County, Sheriff David Barkett does the best he can fighting drug and property crimes. But it's the county's financial mess that has his department feeling handcuffed these days.
Barkett this month laid off three-fourths of his staff, leaving just four deputies to help cover the county that spans more than 250 square miles in far southern Illinois.
He's lately had to surrender five patrol cars to the local bank for nonpayment, leaving his department just one county-owned vehicle.
He says the cuts "hogtie" his department, but he says he's doing what he can to keep residents safe.
Many say the problems have been decades in the making in the county, where the population and tax base continues to shrink as 27% of the residents live in poverty.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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