Mon, Jun 16, 2008 (2:06 a.m.)

The Justice Department has issued a warning to police departments grappling with ways to handle skyrocketing gasoline prices.

“The unintended consequence of some fuel-saving solutions could be a reduction in police services,” the department said in a May memo to local law enforcement agencies.

USA Today reported last week that, in seeking to cut costs, some departments have told officers to quit driving so much. For example:

• Georgia state troopers were told to cut their mileage 15 percent to 25 percent, and are instead using radar or checkpoints to try to catch speeders.

• An Ohio sheriff told deputies to get out of the car for 15 minutes every hour to patrol on foot and has one deputy driving a golf cart. A second golf cart is on the way.

• More departments are turning to bikes. Trek Bicycle Corp. has seen sales of its police model steadily climb.

In Houston, Police Chief Harold Hurtt has tried a number of things to balance police service with budget concerns. Hurtt has swapped some gas-guzzlers for hybrids that will be used as unmarked cars, and he is looking at expanding bicycle and foot patrols.

But, he notes, “when you put people on foot, they can only cover small areas, and the response time is only as fast as they can run.”

In Las Vegas, Metro Police has seen fuel prices increase 22 percent in the past year and has bought more economical cars and those that run on ethanol-based E85 fuel, which has been less expensive than gasoline.

Those are much better ideas than cutting services and potentially endangering public safety. We doubt that bad guys are cutting back because of gas prices.