As resources — police officers and funding — become more scarce, the importance of continuing training programs for officers becomes even more vital, according to the area’s top cops.

The irony is that as budgets get slashed, money for training is often the first to go.

“It’s the last thing that should go” Dayton Chief Richard Biehl said.

As a partial solution, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine — a former Greene County prosecutor — has reshuffled his department’s already slashed budget to provide low- or no-cost training for officers around the state.

“An important way our office can help protect Ohio families is to make sure Ohio’s peace officers have access to the tools to help them best do their jobs,” DeWine said.

Trotwood Chief Quincy Pope has seen his department shrink from 48 officers in 2007 to 33 this year. His training budget has dropped from $20,000 to $12,000, a 40 percent decrease, from last year to this as the city continues its seemingly annual struggle to make ends meet.

Cutting the training budget was “one of the worst decisions you can make. When you reduce manpower, you need to have more training,” Pope said. Trotwood covers more than 26 square miles, making it Montgomery County’s second largest city. With fewer officers, “there isn’t much back up out there,” he said.

Biehl knows all about reduced manpower. While the city’s population has declined over the past decade, so has the number of officers — down by more than 100 over the last several years. In addition, the department has been unable to hire any new officers since 2008 because of discrimination lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice over the city’s Civil Service test for police and fire applicants.

Biehl said he hoped to have a new class of recruits in the police academy by the end of the year. Because of delays, it appears that class won’t enter the academy until next year.

The Dayton department does not have a line item in its budget for training. Instead, it uses the proceeds from confiscated assets — money, vehicles, houses, boats — seized in police investigations where prosecutors can show the assets were used, or came from the proceeds of, illegal activities.

Kettering Chief Jim O’Dell, a 41-year veteran of law enforcement, is glad he has spent the past 26 years with the city.

“The city has always been committed to police training. A police force is one of the most powerful forces in government with the power of arrest and the power to use deadly force. Why wouldn’t you want them well-trained?” he asked.

The department spent $90,000 for officer training last year, including five police recruits who went through the police academy.

And like other top cops, O’Dell watches his training pennies, often sending one officer to specialized training with the intent the newly trained officer will become a trainer for his fellow officers. Kettering also has banded with other suburbs south of Dayton for regional training.

The attorney general, through the Ohio Peace Officers Training Academy, currently offers nearly 100 online training programs, ranging from sexting to prescription drug abuse to financial crime investigation to just about every type of law enforcement situation.

In addition, the training academy has taken to the road, bringing some its courses to officers around the state, said Amy O’Grady, the academy’s deputy director of professional standards.

“Budget cuts are the reason for our enhanced training,” she said.

The attorney general is required to provide training for police officers and reimbursing the costs to local departments “if funding is available,” O’Grady said. This year, the legislature did not provide that funding.

So the attorney general moved money from other parts of his budget to fund the road-show training. “We use our own staff and presenters who volunteer their time to make this possible,” she said.

Huber Heights is among several departments that has cut police travel expenses for out-of-town training, opting for in-house expertise.

“By reducing travel costs and holding our own training, as well as partnering with other agencies for certain in-service trainings, we have been able to reduce some training expenses, while providing more hours of instruction to officers,” Brandon Sucher, department spokesman, said.

Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer said he runs a lean training program through the sheriff’s academy, doing the mandatory minimum to retain national certification.

Kettering’s O’Dell said his city’s commitment to training “shows the community cares about the safety of its officers. That says something to the officers and their families.”

Trotwood’s Pope his city’s long-standing financial problems that have led to cuts to his department will have a long-term effect.

“When you make across the board cuts, that doesn’t make sense. You are not taking a comprehensive look at the effects. You are hollowing out departments.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2290 or dpage@Dayton DailyNews.com.