HELENA, Mont. - In big, wide-open Montana, a state trooper might have to drive more than 100 miles to answer an emergency call, and routinely puts several hundred miles on the odometer in a day.
With gasoline at $4 a gallon, all that driving is tearing up the Highway Patrol's budget.
It is the same story elsewhere around the country, especially in big, sparsely populated Western states with vast stretches of highway. State police agencies nationwide are scrambling to reduce gasoline use and find the money to cover their costs. Some are beginning to worry that they will have to cut back on hiring officers.
For the Highway Patrol in Montana — the fourth-largest state in area, at 147,000 square miles — the options are limited.
The Highway Patrol considered buying more V6 Chevrolet Impala cruisers to save gasoline, but initial tests showed the Impalas get about the same mileage as the department's V8 Ford Crown Victorias, or a little above 15 miles per gallon.
Switching to hybrid vehicles is out of the question, since there is no hope of chasing down bad guys in one, police say.
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HELENA, Mont. - In big, wide-open Montana, a state trooper might have to drive more than 100 miles to answer an emergency call, and routinely puts several hundred miles on the odometer in a day.
