If you live in Boyle County and you call 911 between the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m., you might be waiting a very long time to get help. The Boyle County Sheriff's Department can no longer afford to keep deputies on the clock 24 hours a day.

Chief Deputy James Wilcher says he's not pleased with the decision but says that there was no other choice. The department recently opted to send two deputies to calls of domestic violence in order to keep them safer. Additionally, he says the department can not keep up with overtime accrued when deputies are either on vacation, sick or in training.

Calls that come in to Boyle County in the early morning hours will be forwarded to Kentucky State Police. Depending on where a state trooper is in the county, response time could be up to an hour or longer.

Some residents we spoke to say they're very uncomfortable not having a 24 hour presence by sheriff's deputies. Others say they can protect themselves.

Wilcher is encouraging residents to contact local lawmakers in hopes the round-the-clock patrols can resume. In the meantime, he says he refuses to jeopardize the safety of his deputies by stretching them too thin over a 24 hour period.