The Mahoning Township police chief says proposed budget moves would leave the township underprotected.

During a budget workshop last week the Mahoning Township Supervisors proposed adding another full-time police officer to the force and cutting the part-time help. Cutting coverage hours from 24 down to 20 was another idea kicked around by the board for the 2016 fiscal year.“We would still need one part-timer even if another full-timer was added,” Police Chief Audie Mertz said.Currently the force carries four full-time officers plus the chief. A handful of neighboring officers work to fill in the gaps on a part-time basis.“It is very difficult to find part-time help,” Mertz said. This was part of the board’s reasoning to cut the part-time and carry only full-time officers.“I did request two more full-time officers recently. I’d prefer two more full-timers to be able to eliminate part-time and still provide 24-7 service.”According to Mertz, the call volume for the township has increased.“From January to July of this year we had 330 offenses ranging from DUI to theft and disorderly conducts. Up from the 303 from last year’s January to July numbers.” It’s the increase in call volume that leaves the chief worried about not providing 24-hour service for the area.The budget details are still being hammered out and will not be finalized until early December when the board will publicly display the budget for the community.