Arresting Trend: Economic Woes Hit Cops

Jan. 27, 2009— -- Across the country, the money crunch has gotten so severe that police departments, which are usually the last targeted for budget cuts, have started to feel the economic hard times.

The results of a survey of 233 major police and sheriff's departments released to ABC News show that cities are resorting to law enforcement hiring freezes, potential layoffs and overtime cuts as means to push back against budget crises.

With tax dollars drying up from a devastated auto industry, city officials in Pontiac, Mich., have slashed their police force by two-thirds in recent years. Phoenix, facing a budget deficit of $270 million, might delay filling 250 vacant police officer positions.

Atlanta has cut police salaries by 10 percent by shaving four hours off the workweek of every officer -- including the chief.

"We have been furloughing each and every police officer on our department including myself. We work 36 hours a week now, which equates to a 10 percent reduction in pay. And it also equates to a 10 percent reduction in resources on the street," Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington told ABC News. "We have 10 percent less manpower on the streets of Atlanta, and that's broken down 24 hours, seven days a week."

And the story in Atlanta is echoed throughout the communities surveyed by the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group that researches law enforcement issues and analyzes public policy.

"We've already cut our overtime expenditures in half in the last three months," Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis told ABC News. "So already, we're seeing a reduction in the number of officers that are out there on the street, simply to try to stave off layoffs. We're doing everything that we can within our budget to stay away from layoffs, but we don't know if we're going to be able to do that."