Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a national, bipartisan, nonprofit anti-crime organization of nearly 5,000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, attorneys general and other law enforcement leaders and violence survivors, has published a letter sent to Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson in support of increasing the state’s pre-K funding.

Police chiefs from Benton and Glenwood signed onto the letter.

It says, in part:

Quality early learning programs can significantly reduce future crime rates and save taxpayer dollars. A study that followed children who participated in high-quality prekindergarten and parent coaching programs through Chicago’s Child-Parent Centers found they were 20 percent less likely to be arrested for a felony or be incarcerated as young adults than those who did not attend.