GAYLORD, MI -- The Gaylord Police Department will lose a road-patrol officer and share duties with its administrative assistant this summer as city leaders work to battle what continues to be a dwindling budget.
In an effort to cut more than $150,000 from the police operations budget, the changes will go in place this June.
The cut will leave eight road officers to patrol streets.
This could cause longer response times on non-emergency calls.
"We'll still do everything we can for the citizens. It's going to be a little different, not sure exactly what kind of changes may have to be made, but there will be some, but we're going to make it work, we're going to do what has to be done to make it work," says Gaylord Police Chief Joe Fitzgerald.
Chief Fitzgerald says another cost-saving measure will be to double up officers in police vehicles to save on gas and maintenance costs.
He says he hopes this is the last time cuts have to be made.
