WAUKESHA, Wis. — The community reacted to the Waukesha County District Attorney’s warning that going forward, not all crimes will be prosecuted because of staffing shortages. It is a story TMJ4 News first aired Friday when DA Lesli Boese sat down with TMJ4 reporter Rebecca Klopf.
"You said you saw the story, what were your thoughts when you saw the story?" asked Rebecca.
"Disturbed, bothered,” answered Margo Camacho, a Waukesha resident.
Boese said her office is down 10 and a half prosecutors and are about to lose two more this summer when they run out of grant funding. Waukesha is the third biggest county in the state in terms of population but is behind both Racine and Kenosha in terms of prosecutors.
Watch: Waukesha Co. residents voice worries over DA's warning of reduced prosecutions
Boese said once her office loses two more workers they will start to have to pick and choose which crimes they try.
"I consider this a crisis,” she said.”Going forward there will be cases that aren't charged.”
That message comes as the state is deciding the budget for the district attorneys' offices across Wisconsin. Right now, Waukesha County is projected to get 0.5 or half of a prosecutor position.
Justin Young, another Waukesha resident said he is upset about the message but he supports the DA.
"Less crime, I don't like that,” said Young. "She only has to deal with the resources she has."
“I’m not okay with that,” said Margo.
“I’m not okay with that at all. There has to be some sort of solution that doesn't involve not prosecuting,” said Jim Camacho, Waukesha resident.
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