Five thousand law enforcement leaders from across the state were in mid-Michigan Wednesday calling for lawmakers to protect children by not cutting funds.

 At the "Fight Crime- Invest in Kids" meeting, officials released results of a new report showing more than 29,000 children in our state were abused and neglected in 2007, and asked lawmakers to provide funding for programs to turn that statistic around.

"If you've spent any time at all in law enforcement, one thing that you run into is you see children who lived in an abusive or neglectful situation we watch them grow up, we see them as young offenders, we see them as young adult offenders," said George Basar, Police Chief for the City of Howell.

In her executive budget, Governor Granholm recommends getting rid of more than $13 million from child abuse and neglect prevention programs.