A looming budget shortage leads the city of Tulsa to cut its next police academy nearly in half.
Instead of 23, 13 cadets will start the academy May 1. City Manager Jim Twombly said the decision came so close because city officials were trying to find other places they could save money.
"It's something that we really were reluctant to even consider, but, you know, when you're scratching for that last million dollars, you've got to scratch deep," Twombly said.
The city anticipates $600,000 in savings from the move.
Twombly isn’t anticipating layoffs among police officers right now; however, the city will be on track to have fewer police officers next year than it did last year.
Twombly said staffing levels will be lower than officials want but not unprecedented.
"The current officers have done a, really, yeoman's work in maintaining public safety in the community, and I think we'll just have to ask that of them again," Twombly said.
Tulsa Police Department has gone from 669 officers in 2010 to 774 as of March 1 of this year.
