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The Michigan Sheriff's Association says the state has lost 3,654 police officers in the last decade.
There were about 22,500 in 2001. Now, there's about 18,900.
This drop means other agencies have to pick up the slack as is the case in St. Joseph County, Mich., and that extra work can put a strain on deputies.
St. Joseph County, Mich. sheriff's deputy Mike McCoy spends most of his day on the road, responding to calls. "You might average three or four, which doesn't sound like a lot, but there are days when you're up to six, seven or eight," said McCoy.
About a year ago, the state cut the number of troopers at the Michigan State Police post in White Pigeon from about 15 to 4, forcing deputies like McCoy to take more calls.
"By the time you get the complaint, you might clear it right then, you might go to three other places to do follow up, but you're getting sent to other complaints in the mean time," said McCoy.
Complaint after complaint delays the follow up process.
"Follow ups are real important so that you can collect the evidence that you need, interviews need to be done, so that you do a thorough job so the prosecutor can do a thorough job in prosecuting the complaints," said Sheriff Brad Balk.
Sheriff Balk says his men are working 12-hour shifts, and he could use 10 more deputies to keep up with the patrol work. "When you're running from complaint to complaint, you're more reactive than proactive, and it makes it awful difficult."
Balk says Branch County Sheriff Department, which is east of St. Joseph County and home to the city of Coldwater, is down to 6 deputies from about 20.
So, his men may also have to respond to calls in that area. The Cass County sheriff says he hasn't lost any deputies, and the Niles police chief says they've been seeing cuts for the past ten years, but they're just now getting to a fuller staff.