County Can Afford Green Efforts, Aids Awareness, but not Police

[jbg]

This is just great. We have a county that can fund "green" efforts but not afford to lab-test suspected hydrochloric acid. Why can't the basics get done first, then the optional stuff? It's great to reduce Westchester's carbon footprint; better to maintain basic public safety. (Link, excerpts below):

County to police: Evidence can't be tested due to budget cuts

Port Chester police have been turned away by Westchester County officials after detectives asked for a lab test on what they believe is a bottle of acid, while the county blames budget cuts for refusing a service relied upon by police departments throughout Westchester.

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Detectives in Port Chester sent a bottle labeled “ACID” to the county after a bizarre Thanksgiving-day incident in which 63-year-old Jeffrey Borsk of Greenwich showed up at a Regent Street home with the bottle and threatened to throw it on a young girl who answered the door unless she gave him a glass of water…..Police believe the container held hydrochloric acid, and successful prosecution of the case could partially hinge on a test from a court-certified lab.

But because police aren’t sure if the container does hold hydrochloric acid— which is why they want to test it in the first place—county officials refused to test it in their crime lab, blaming budget cuts and pointing to the fact that it could take more than a dozen tests to identify the substance if it is not what police suspect.

Westchester County’s 2009 budget is pegged at $1.77 billion and includes spending for “green efforts,” events marking World AIDS Day, “party nights” at local parks, and seminars on environmental literacy and candle-making.

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Edited December 14, 2009 by jbg