Budget Cuts Triples Backlog in Narcotics Lab

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said recently that the reduction of employee’s overtime resulting from budget cuts is slowing down the analysis of evidence in their narcotics lab.

Sheriff Lee Baca wrote a report to the LA County Board of Supervisors stating that the department is experiencing problems in the support and investigative units as a result of the budget cuts to aid the $128 million gap.

It has been reported earlier that the average backlog last year of 256 unanalyzed cases has ballooned to around 920 cases. The expert analysts who used to handle these cases were not allowed to work on overtime because of the budget restraint.

Other local law enforcement agencies are also affected in the said delays as they send evidence to the narcotics lab to be analyzed.

Tractor Hits Farm worker in Fresno

A farm worker operating a tractor was recently injured after he was run over by the vehicle near Sanger. The worker was airlifted to Community Regional Medical Center where he was treated for his injuries.

He is said to be the field crew boss and appeared to be in his 40s. His identity is yet to be released.

Reports show that the man was operating the tractor when he got off it while it is still in gear to get water. The tractor then rolled away as the man tried to chase it down. The man then slipped causing him to be run over by the tractor.

The man can file a claim for worker’s compensation as he was injured while on the job. If he does this, he waves his right to sue the company for the accident. Either way, the man can recover his medical expenses for his injuries.