Sheriff’s office suggests handling non-urgent calls by phone after high gas prices exhaust fuel budget

The Isabella County Sheriff's Office in Michigan revealed on Tuesday that they may have to respond to non-urgent calls by phone after exhausting their fuel budget.

In a Facebook post that has since been deleted, the department cited rising gas prices as the reason behind the idea, but noted that they would still show up on the scene for urgent calls.

As ABC News reports, Sheriff Michael Main said in the post that due to rising gas prices, the department had used up its fuel budget with months to go before it resets.

To help keep costs to a minimum, he suggested that all non-urgent calls would be responded to via phone. According to Main, these include "non-in-progress calls, non-life-threatening calls, calls that do not require evidence collection or documentation."

Main made sure to point out that, "deputies will continue to provide patrols to all areas of the county."

"They will respond to those calls that need to be managed in person," he said. "Any call that is in progress with active suspects will involve a response by the deputies."

"I want to assure the community that safety is our primary goal, and we will continue to respond to those types of calls."

According to AAA, regular gas prices in Michigan currently sit a record high average of $5.21 per gallon, up over $2 from this time last year.

When President Biden took office, the national average for a gallon of gas was $2.39. It has since more than doubled to $4.82. The White House has blamed everyone but itself for the rise, repeatedly suggesting that Americans are paying more because of Russian President Vladimir Putin and oil companies.