Mingo Junction Police are holding on to their 24-hour patrols as they deal with a slashed budge, according to Chief Steve Maguschak.

The department depends on the Community Oriented Policing Services federal grant program -- COPS -- to help fund their department. Currently, Mingo Police are short so many officers that not all of the shifts can be covered.

“The problem we're running into now, we went from a 10-men department with a Detectives Division with two patrol officers per turn, and the ability to have that detective come out, to only one officer per turn," said Maguschak.

Mingo police have just four officers on duty, and Maguschak pulls double duty to make up for it, including going out on welfare checks and security calls other officers would take care of, he said.

“Our patrol officers would normally be doing this, and I would be doing administrative work down at the station,” said Maguschak.

To fill the open shifts, Mingo police depend on the COPS grant, and they applied to fill one position. In the meantime, Maguschak said the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office sends extra officers out to help on domestic calls with violence. But it makes it hard for Mingo police to make other types of arrests.

“When you only have one guy per turn, if the K-9 officer's out, answers a call and he arrests someone, he has no where to put the prisoner because the dog's in the back," said Maguschak. "We've lost personnel, we haven't been able to respond in the same manner, which takes a little bit getting used to, but the guys are doing the best they can.”

Mingo police said the federal government has put their department on the 2012 budget for the COPS grant program. They won't find out for several months whether they will get approved for that extra officer needed.