Photos: Lakeville, County Law Enforcement Leaders Rally For Early Childhood Education

Last year, the state of Minnesota spent $465 million on the 10,000 people in state and federal prisons.

"Like it or not, we do pay for crime," Dakota County Attorney Jim Backstrom said.

But he, and a number of other local law enforcement leaders all agree, there are ways to lower those costs: investing in early childhood education.

Backstrom was joined by Dakota County Sheriff Dave Bellows, Rice County Attorney G. Paul Beaumaster, Lakeville Police Chief Thomas Vonhof, and "Fight Crime: Invest in Kids" spokesperson Tim Carpenter at , located at 7802 W 175th St., in Lakeville on Wednesday to call on congressional leaders as well as the state's legislature not to forget about early childhood education when crafting budgets.

"I hope the legislature in Minnesota will take the message of early intervention and early childhood education to heart," Beaumaster said. "We can arrest and we can prosecute criminals, but there's no substitute for education from an early age."

Bellows said children who receive a high quality early education are more likely to graduate high school, earn more money, and stay out of trouble.

"I'm convinced that no child is born destined to be a career criminal," Bellows said.

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a national and non-partisan anti-crime organization made of law enforcement leaders across the state. Carpenter said the group fights to help fund programs that help kids onto a better path in life.

And he pointed to Backstrom's numbers as a reminder that the state isn't doing a good enough job at helping children.

Last year, Minnesota spent just $20 million on the Head Start program for early childhood education. When compared to the $465 million spent on corrections, Carpenter said he sees an issue.

"What works to prevent kids from becoming criminals?" he said.

Beyond calling for politicians to do a better job in funding programs for children, the group also read books to the children at New Horizon.