Amid skyrocketing gas prices, the Isabella County, Michigan, sheriff’s department announced Friday that it would begin cutting in-person responses to non-urgent calls, NBC’s WDIV-TV 4 reported.
The Isabella County Sheriff’s Office emphasized in a Facebook post that it was “feeling the pain at the pump as well,” with gas prices hitting an average of $5.21 per gallon in Michigan statewide, according to data compiled by AAA.
“We have exhausted what funds were budgeted for fuel with several months to go before the budget reset,” wrote Sheriff Michael Main.
“I have instructed the deputies to attempt to manage whatever calls are acceptable over the phone,” he continued. “This would be non-in-progress calls, non-life-threatening calls, calls that do not require evidence collection or documentation.”
The sheriff assured that although deputies will still patrol the county, they will also be more selective when answering calls in person.
Main continued, saying police “will respond to those calls that need to be managed in person,” including “any call that is in progress with active suspects.”
The Daily Mail has since noted that the department removed Main’s statement from the Facebook page. The department’s entire history also appears to have been deleted.
The news out of Michigan comes amid warnings from financial experts that gas prices could jump to more than $6 a gallon by the end of summer, per Fox Business.
“Typically, refiners produce more gasoline ahead of the summer road-trip season, building up inventories,” wrote JPMorgan analysts, further cautioning that “gasoline balances on the East Coast have been even tighter, drawing to their lowest levels since 2011.”
Via Newsmax