Driving to and from work is getting to be very expensive considering the cost of gas. Now, what if you drove for a living?

Law enforcement officials are on the road everyday and for many local departments, gas budgets for 2008 are way off.

"Public safety, whether it be police, fire, ambulance, is a necessity," said Oneida County Sheriff Dan Middaugh.

The Oneida County Sheriff's Department has a fleet of 85 vehicles - everything from patrol cars to prisoner transports - are covering 2100 square miles.

The agency's gas budget for this year is $315,000 but the Sheriff suspects that is not going to stretch to the end of the year.

"We are trying to be as cost affective as we can," Middaugh said. "I told the deputies if you're going to be in a vehicle for an extended period of time, then shut it off so you can conserve gas."

On a smaller scale, the New Hartford Police Department is dealing with the same fuel crisis.

"Approximately 15% additional funding was put in place for gas purchases," said Lt. Timothy O'Neill of the New Hartford Police Department. "Unfortunately here we are in the middle of 2008 and gas is double that. We're up over 30%."

New Hartford has ten vehicles on the road - most have eight cylinder engines. If you travel a quarter of a million miles a year, with gas over $4 a gallon - it's time for a change.

"If we went to the Dodge Chargers from the Ford Crown Victoria, we would get relatively the same performance and increase our mileage by 20%," O'Neill said.

New Hartford and the Sheriff's Department have thought about the possibility of increasing motorcycle patrols, but both agree it's just not practical.

"We have a commitment to the public," O'Neill said. "We have a contract with the public to be out there and perform these services each and everyday."