Funding for road patrols

St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners Chairman John Dobberteen has asked that a letter be sent to state representatives regarding police coverage at night by the Michigan State Police. During the county commission’s November committee of the whole meeting, Dobberteen said he is aware the Branch County Sheriff’s Department cut in half its funding for road patrol. Dobberteen said it’s his understanding that troopers from the Michigan State Police post in Coldwater will do night patrol in place of the sheriff’s department. Dobberteen asked that letters of concern be sent to local legislators requesting like-kind funding for St. Joseph County, which pays for its own nighttime road patrol.