Oregon Public Broadcasting

If you’re feeling pain at the gas pumps, you’re not alone. Some Northwest police agencies say the high cost of fuel is busting their budgets.

The situation is so serious one rural sheriff says his deputies may have to park their cars. Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.

In the police business, driving is a big part of the job. Police officers, state troopers and sheriff’s deputies log tens of thousands of miles a year - and burn thousand of gallons of gas.

So when the cost of fuel goes up, police budgets feel the pinch.

Perhaps nowhere more than in rural counties where budgets are already bare bones.

In Ferry County, Washington Sheriff Pete Warner is closely watching the price at the pump. He says if the cost of a gallon of gas goes up another ten cents this summer he may tell his deputies to park it.

Pete Warner: “We will respond to an actual call for service but open patrols are going to have to diminish otherwise I’m going to run out of money for gas.”

Rural sheriffs in Oregon and Idaho say they’re also feeling the pinch. Most say they’re looking for creative ways to save money so they don’t have to cut patrols.

This year the Washington State Patrol had to ask the legislature for an extra, nearly $700,000 to pay for fuel.

The average cost of regular unleaded hit a record $3.80 a gallon in Washington State Monday, $3.66 a gallon in Idaho and $3.74 a gallon in Oregon according to AAA.