This morning Governor Rick Snyder delivered his public safety message. The message will be available on the Governor’s website.

There are several key points that affect our communities. They include:

• $10 million of the $25 million EVIP grant funds will be prioritized for public safety consolidation/innovation
• Creation of a Secure Cities Partnership to focus initially on Flint, Detroit, Pontiac and Saginaw. This includes $15 million for 180 State Police troopers and MSP coordination to direct resources to those cities.
• Embedding a Michigan Department of Corrections officer into these four target cities specifically dedicated to reducing crime in those areas.
• Asking the Council on Law Enforcement and Reinvention (CLEAR) to formulate a Neighborhood Crime Prevention Initiative to be implemented statewide.
• Formation of an advisory council on fire and emergency response.
• Asking CLEAR to develop recommendations to implement Next Generation 9-1-1 enabling users to send text, pictures and videos to 9-1-1 dispatchers.
• Supporting the efforts of the Michigan Supreme Court to expand video conferencing technology to all trial courts.
• Preliminary exam reform including requiring preliminary exam conferences and allowing for limited hearsay testimony at the preliminary exam.
• Creation of the Community Ventures initiative through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). This is a public-private partnership seeking to provide job training and other services for unemployed Michiganders. It intends to create at least 1,000 long-term jobs.
• Creation of a new social entrepreneurship business competition through MEDC to come up with solutions to address structural unemployment.
• Fighting blight by prohibiting those with unpaid taxes or who own blighted properties from buying more property at auction. In addition the Governor is recommending an appropriation of $3 million to use in clearing title on tax-reverted properties in Detroit
• Starting prisoner re-entry programs at the very beginning of an offender’s prison sentence.

Samantha Harkins works for the Michigan Municipal League handling municipal services and energy and technology issues.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at [email protected].