Facing dramatic shortfalls in tax revenue, cities and counties across the nation are struggling to fund programs including public safety. One of the major factors aggravating the situation is the high cost of gasoline, and law enforcement agencies are looking for ways to reduce the quantity of gas used by cruisers and other vehicles in their fleets. With the cost of gallon now at $4 and quickly escalating to possibly $8 by the end of the year, chiefs and sheriffs are considering some alternatives, although none, on their own, will solve the problems.

One idea is to have more officers patrolling on foot and in bicycles. Another is to limit the hours or miles on the road of every patrol car. Another might be reducing the number of officers on patrol. Some have even suggested stopping the practice of allowing officers to drive vehicles home.

This is, of course, is quite unpopular. Many departments have turned to acquiring small cars that deliver 35 miles per gallon or more. Others are buying scooters, small motorcycles and standard size motorcycles, electric golf carts, horses for mounted police patrols, and other more creative means of transport like go-carts. There are no easy solutions to the money crunch.

Some departments have been struggling for some time with reduced budgets forcing them to use radios that don't work, limiting firing at the range to 52 bullets per year, keeping old cruisers running for more miles than is economically feasible, having officers wearing old vests that should be replaced, no video cameras or computers in cruisers. And the future looks even worse with ever escalating prices of goods and services that could approach a depression. Many are asking the question: what is going to happen to public safety?

Reducing the already low salaries paid to law enforcement officers is not an option, and reducing or doing away with training would be disastrous. The only possible solution is for the Federal government to provide emergency funding for law enforcement agencies – a supplement according to the specific needs and size of particular agencies. It would need to be a form of direct funding eliminating the processing by Washington, DC, and the state's bureaucracy.

The funding would not be in a form of competitive grants, just money sent directly to local, state and federal agencies. There could be a formula, for example, a 500-officer department gets $1 million dollars a year, while a 100-officer department would get $200,000 dollars per year. To qualify for the money, they would have to describe how they intend to use the funds with simple paper work. The money could come from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or directly from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).

Louis G. Dominguez is a certified law enforcement officer. He is also a nationally recognized crime prevention and homeland security expert. He resides in Gainesville, VA.