Despite Georgia's scorching summer heat, Suwanee police Chief Mike Jones is telling his officers to turn off their car engines whenever they can.

And bike whenever possible. And patrol on foot at least an hour every shift.

With the dramatic increases in gas prices, police departments across Georgia are taking similar measures —- literally putting more officers on the streets by driving them out of their cars.

While Suwanee's officers are limited to driving only 65 to 75 miles per shift, those at the Gainesville Police Department are encouraged to spend up to half of their shift pedaling the department's bikes.

Many departments hope to reduce fuel consumption by replacing old Ford Crown Victoria police cars with newer Dodge Chargers —- which get an estimated one mile more per gallon on the street and highway.

"When gas hits four dollars a gallon, that's a wake-up call for you," Gainesville police Chief Frank Hooper said. "We budgeted fuel at a higher cost than we were paying [recently] because we were expecting it to go up. It's a challenge for all of us right now."

In the past 30 days, Gainesville police have implemented various fuel conservation tactics, which include parking in hot spots for crime and walking through neighborhoods.

Troopers at the Georgia State Patrol are encouraged to use more discretion in their patrols and concentrate on road checks and DUI checkpoints. Last year, they switched from 89 octane to 87 octane fuel and have since stepped up the use of radar, which can be done from a stationary car.

The department has reduced their miles driven by 15 percent to 25 percent since January, according to Senior Trooper Larry Schnall.

"Our troopers are still on the road and highly visible, but we're doing our part in saving fuel," Schnall assured.

Police departments at Suwanee and Rome also are doing a law enforcement version of car pooling, putting two officers in some police cars instead of just one. "Doubled up" units are reserved for responding to more serious calls, such as those for domestic violence or burglaries.

Gainesville's chief, however, said that would be a last resort for his department.

"We haven't gone to that yet because that would decrease service and visibility," he said.

Holly Springs in Cherokee County has resorted to increasing its moving violation fines to make up for higher gas prices, and Atlanta Councilman C.T. Martin proposed Monday that his city do the same.

Making matters worse, city governments across the state —- as well as the country —- will have to further reduce their expenditures because of a drop in revenue from sales taxes. According to Kenneth Heaghney, the state's fiscal economist, consumer spending has not grown as quickly as it otherwise would have, given the rise in prices.

In cities like Gainesville, fuel conservation efforts may not keep pace with the rising price of gas.

"While we hope our consumption will go down, we don't see it doing that at the same rate as the price of gas goes up," Gainesville City Manager Bryan Shuler said.

The effect of rising fuel costs is expected to be heavily discussed in Savannah this weekend, as more than 2,400 of Georgia's city officials are scheduled to attend the annual Georgia Municipal Association's four-day meeting. Gas costs will figure heavily into most governments' annual budgets.

Amy Henderson, the association's public information manager, said governments are doing what they can now to cut back on the use of fuel.

"But the bottom line is," she added, "they still need to provide that public safety."

Robert Sampson, a professor of social sciences at Harvard University, notes that a reduction in police vehicle use may not affect the crime rate —- as long as the number of police remains the same.

"There have been long-standing calls for police to walk the streets anyway," he said. "It may take some police out of their cars, but it could put more police out there walking."

Officers patrolling on foot may need to call vehicle units to chase suspects; however, pedestrian police will be more accessible to the public.

"It's not so much the number of police —- it's what they do," Sampson said.