With just 39 days to go until the general election, the MIGOP is finally coming off the sidelines to prop up DeVos sellout Tudor Dixon’s wrong-for-Michigan agenda and paper over her disastrous plan to slash funding for law enforcement.
This investment from Michigan Republicans in tandem with the “kingmak[ing]” DeVos family and other outside groups and opponents have put more than $16 million towards pushing bogus attacks against Governor Whitmer this cycle. Here are the facts:
No Stranger to Disinformation, the MIGOP Ad Relies on Data That Either Doesn’t Align With the Truth or Was Deemed Flawed by Michigan State Police
Violent crime rates are either flat or down in several of Michigan’s largest cities in 2022 according to the latest FBI data. In Detroit alone, “the number of violent crimes…dropped 16.5% in this year’s second quarter compared with the same time a year ago.” Statewide, the murder rate has also decreased compared to 2020-2021.
In keeping with that trend, robberies and property crimes have also fallen significantly during Governor Whitmer’s first term. From 2017-2021:
- Robberies are down 38.1%
- Larcenies are down 25.2%
- Burglaries are down 40.7%
- Property crimes are down 24.3%
Michigan Incident Crime Reporting only started counting carjacking as a separate crime in August 2019. When that recordkeeping change occured, it resulted in an artificially inflated percentage increase in overall data for carjackings and car thefts. The 2019 Michigan Incident Crime Report explicitly said that an “accurate analysis of carjackings” that year “cannot be provided” due to the change.
Tudor Dixon’s Budget Plan Would Slash Billions From Michigan Law Enforcement and Infrastructure
A major pillar of Tudor Dixon’s wrong-for-Michigan agenda is her crusade to force billions in cuts to budgets impacting the critical services that keep our streets safe.
Dixon proposed a “piss-poor public policy proposal” that “those who watch the state’s budget closely said would be catastrophic for funding.” It is estimated to eliminate nearly $12 billion from the budget and $8 billion from the general fund, threatening the “primary funding source” providing over 60% of Michigan State Police budget and threatening thousands of law enforcement jobs.
The Michigan Association of Police Organizations warned in 2017 that plans like these “would have a devastating impact on police budgets at the state and local levels” and leave law enforcement “crippled.” Earlier this year, MAPO reiterated their opposition to a similar plan, noting that it “would reduce police protection and create ‘long-term budget problems.’”
Dixon has said she “absolutely” supported “phas[ing] out” funding streams for critical services as quickly as possible. She has yet to identify how or if she would replace the law enforcement funding eliminated by this “dramatic shift in state government operations.” This trend continued as Detroit News reported that Dixon still “has not provided specifics” of how she plans to rip billions out of Michigan’s budget and fully fund law enforcement at the same time.
Governor Whitmer Launched Operation Safe Neighborhoods To Crack Down on Crime And Get Illegal Guns Off The Street, Secured Major Bipartisan Expansion Of Rural Road Patrols
This week Governor Whitmer signed bipartisan legislation to boost funding for secondary road patrols by 50% to put more officers on the road and provide consistent funding to improve law enforcement recruitment and retention.
This year Whitmer launched Operation Safe Neighborhoods, a statewide effort to crack down on illegal guns and crime with expanded partnerships between state authorities and local law enforcement to “combat gun violence” by “remov[ing] illegal firearms from streets as well as those with criminal histories.” THe program has already led to dozens of arrests and seizures of illegal guns.
Just this July, Governor Whitmer signed bipartisan legislation to create and fund a new organized retail crime unit housed within the Department of the Attorney General to “help consumers avoid bad faith sellers.”
Governor Whitmer Has Deployed the Michigan Army National Guard to Help Secure The Border
In September 2020, Governor Whitmer authorized the deployment of a contingent of the Michigan Army National Guard to the U.S.-Mexican border to “augment and relieve” U.S. Border Patrol and provide other “logistical support.”
Additionally, while running for her first term, Whitmer in 2018 argued that abolishing ICE “doesn’t fix the problem.” This point was backed up by Bridge Michigan’s ‘Truth Squad,’ which held that suggestions that Whitmer wanted to abolish ICE were simply a “low” and “classic example of stringing together the very real statements of [Schuette’s] opponents to reach conclusions that both distract and mislead voters.”
Governor Whitmer Secured Major Funding Increases For State And Local Law Enforcement During Her Term
Claims that Governor Whitmer defunded the police have been proven false time after time, and even conservatives and Republican lawmakers have denied the bogus claim. While Tudor Dixon gives lip service to leading on law enforcement and public safety, Governor Whitmer has actually been doing it by ensuring local law enforcement have the resources they need to maintain safe communities.
In the newest budget, Whitmer is delivering funding to recruit more law enforcement officers and expand training, and she secured $100 million to protect the retirement of Michigan State Troopers. In the 2022 bipartisan budget alone, Governor Whitmer secured:
- $30 million for police recruitment and training
- Over $9 million for 130 new State Police troopers
- $3 million for de-escalation training for State Police
- $3.5 million for retail crime unit helping protect Michigan businesses
- $1.1 million for expanded efforts to fight cyber crime
- Nearly $1 million to fund “Secure Cities” partnerships between Michigan State Police and local law enforcement agencies
In 2021, she signed a bipartisan budget that included a 12 percent funding increase for Michigan State Police including millions for officer recruitment and training, body cams, and to increase patrols on secondary roads. This built on the nearly $100 million Governor Whitmer has increased State Police funding by since taking office, signing two budgets that provided over $820 million in funding for the Department Of State Police.
Additionally, after billions in cuts by past governors, Whitmer boosted revenue-sharing programs to $1.33 billion, benefitting local law enforcement.
Thanks to Governor Whitmer’s strong leadership, the total number of police officers and civilian law enforcement employees increased under Whitmer. Funding for the largest municipalities has improved significantly too, particularly in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Dearborn, Grand Rapids, Sterling Heights, Novi, and Pontiac.
As part of her MI Safe Communities Plan, Governor Whitmer pushed the legislature to invest $75 million “to hire more police officers, increase their pay and fund programs to fight a surge in violent crime across the state.” This plan provides funding to reduce crime and keep families safe by tackling the court backlog, creating a jobs court to reduce recidivism through employment, getting illegal guns off the street, expanding resources for law enforcement, and investing in counseling and education.
