About 90 Special Agents in California's Division of Law Enforcement are facing layoffs this month but they are going to court in an effort to stop it.
The Special Agents contend they are the victims of political retaliation by Governor Jerry Brown and that he targeted them in budget cuts. The union that represents the Special Agents did not support Governor Brown when he ran for office.
On Friday, the union is asking a judge in Sacramento Superior Court to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the layoffs.
The layoffs include Special Agents in the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and the Bureau of Investigation & Intelligence. The cuts would also mean the closure of the state’s Advance Training Center.
Last year, 65 hundred officers received training at the Advance Training Center, most of them officers from local police and sheriff departments.
The union representing the Special Agents contends if the Governor allowed the Attorney General to administer the $71 million in cuts the way she saw fit, fewer Special Agents would be losing their jobs. Instead, the cuts specifically target the Special Agents and their departments.
