2012 will be remembered for a lot of things, but for the Wheeling Police Department it will probably be most remembered as the year voters decided to repeal the requirement that two officers be in each police cruiser.

The change is scheduled to happen on Sunday and with just six days left there are still some things being sorted out.

The police department is preparing all of the officers for the changes, a lot of which has to do with a number of new procedures, like when a response warrants back-up.

"It's taken us a little time to implement some procedures and programs and get the guys in line with exactly what is going to be happening," said Deputy Chief Martin Kimball. "We had to basically redo our whole structure on how we assign officers to different districts. So it'll be interesting to see how it all works out."

Kimball says there will be a number of challenges.

"They have to come to the realization that now they have to do everything by themselves, they have to do all the paperwork, there's a lot and it takes a lot of time.

Because two officers can split up there will be more cruisers on the road, which means faster response times and a more visual presence.

But it also means more work for dispatchers, like County 911 Director Theresa Russell.

"It's going to be a big change but I think we are ready for it," said Russell. "Most of the dispatchers have been here for a lot of years. So yeah it's going to be a change but we'll get through it."

A number of changes affect dispatchers, including the tweaking of existing zones and cruiser changes.

"Remembering the two-digit car numbers, the zones pretty much stayed the same," said Russell. "We've taken a series of tens and assigned them to specific parts of the department."

The decision to repeal the two-man cruiser requirement could still be overturned. This month, a circuit judge granted the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 38 a chance to correct errors in its original lawsuit against the city. A date for a hearing has yet to be set.