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Va. police spared in budget cuts©Associated PressOctober 17, 2002 RICHMOND, Va. -- Attacks by the Washington-area sniper prompted Gov. Mark R. Warner to shield law enforcement from the first round of state budget cuts and layoffs, an administration official said Wednesday. Warner on Tuesday night announced $858-million in cuts that will eliminate about 1,837 state employees. The governor had considered cuts of about 7 percent for the Virginia State Police and local law enforcement agencies, said Warner spokeswoman Ellen Qualls. The cuts would not have affected troopers or direct law enforcement efforts, she said. The last three of the nine people killed in the sniper attacks were shot in Virginia, as was a woman who was wounded. The shootings have left local police looking to the state for assistance from state police and financial aid from the state for overtime expenses. "When one of their responsibilities was to help track down the sniper, we thought it was not a good time to take away resources," said Spotsylvania County Finance Secretary John Bennett, who has worked with Warner for weeks to make cuts needed to fill a $1.5-billion budget gap. "We thought it was better to be cautious."
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