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No New Funding for Sheriff’s Department


Anoka County Commissioners voted 5-2 on Thursday against funding the replacement of eight Sheriff’s Department vehicles, and the hiring of five new sheriffs deputies. County Sheriff Gus Dicesari conveyed his needs to the board of county commissioners stating, “It is getting too costly to maintain the older vehicles and they spend too much time in the repair shop.” The vehicles that Dicesari wishes to have replaced have exceeded 150, 000 miles, and he reports that this is the first time in 27 years that the county has not provided funding to the sheriff’s department for new equipment. Commissioners Anita Shenuski and Raymond Laybourne supported Dicesari’s request stating that more county money should be spent on the law enforcement and less on programs for migrant workers.


Commission President Anne Chenn denies that migrant workers have impacted the funding problem. Chenn said the county’s lack of resources is due instead to rises in healthcare costs and increased fuel prices. The county also spent 30 million dollars of its 127 million dollar budget to build a new prison to alleviate overcrowding. Commissioners Valerie Dawkins, Faith Ellis, Jose Gardoz, and Roland Grauman supported Chenn’s position that the county simply did not have the 580 thousand dollars necessary to fund the Sheriffs request. Chenn suggested instead that deputies refrain from driving their cruisers home to avoid putting greater miles on the vehicles, and to increase the availability of vehicles to on duty officers.