DOVER, Del. (AP)- A panel charged with steering funds to local police departments in Delaware to help fight violent crime has approved $134,000 to ensure that law enforcement agencies maintain access to the state's criminal justice database.
Tuesday's vote by the oversight committee for the Fund to Combat Violent Crime came after state lawmakers failed to approve full operational funding for the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System, or DELJIS, in this year's budget.
While panel members approved the funding for DELJIS access, Attorney General Matt Denn and Safety and Homeland Security Secretary Lew Schiliro both expressed concern about the situation in which state budget writers left the committee.
Denn said it was "incredibly irresponsible" for lawmakers to leave the panel in a position of having to fund local agency access to the database.
