Police, sheriffs ask Illinois lawmakers to maintain funding for youth programs

Police, sheriffs ask Illinois lawmakers to maintain funding for youth programs by Chacour Koop

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With state budget cuts looming in the coming year, law enforcement officials from across Illinois made a case Thursday for more funding, but it wasn’t a request to funnel more dollars into their own departments.

A group of about a dozen police chiefs, sheriffs and state’s attorneys asked lawmakers to maintain or increase funding for child and youth programs. They say it’s an effort to be on the “front side” of crime by supporting kids before they enter a life of crime.