We continue to face the reality of the cuts that the Governor and legislature were forced to make by the people of Alabama. The Mobile Register reports,

Alabama’s budget crunch and its diminished number of state troopers mean that motorists should be prepared to help themselves if they encounter trouble on roadways, caution Department of Public Safety officials.

“The reduced trooper presence may mean longer response time to crashes and other traffic emergencies,” said Col. Mike Coppage, the department’s director.

Eleven State Troopers will be assigned to cover 27 of the state’s 67 counties from midnight to 6 a.m. each day, Dorris Teague, a DPS spokeswoman, said Monday. The other 40 counties are not patrolled during those hours, she said.

“During my career, it’s the shortest we’ve ever been,” said Cpl. Spencer Collier, a six-year veteran and spokesman for the trooper post in Mobile. “When I started almost seven years ago, we had 19 troopers in Baldwin County and 24 in Mobile. Today, it’s 13 in Mobile and 12 in Baldwin. That’s a pretty significant difference over seven years.”

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