Higher gas prices have forced a Michigan police department to rethink the way they handle non-urgent phone calls.
It has been requested that deputies handle as much as possible over the phone due to rising fuel costs, the Isabella County Sheriff’s Office in Central Michigan said in a Facebook post this week.
Isabella County Sheriff’s Office is feeling the pain at the pump as well. We have exhausted what funds were budgeted for fuel with several months to go before the budget reset.
I have instructed the deputies to attempt to manage whatever calls are acceptable over the phone. This would be non-in-progress calls, non-life-threatening calls, calls that do not require evidence collection or documentation.
Deputies will continue to provide patrols to all areas of the county, they will respond to those calls that need to be managed in person. Any call that is in progress with active suspects will involve a response by the deputies. I want to assure the community that safety is our primary goal, and we will continue to respond to those types of calls. – Isabella County Sheriff Michael Main
With an average price of $5.21 per gallon statewide and Isabella County at $5.18 per gallon, the state of Michigan is above the national average of $4.95 per gallon.
